Until It's Gone
by Emerald Guardian
Summary: Sequel to Trust. A lot has changed in the two years since the heroes returned from Malterr. With broken relationships, unbearable losses, and an old enemy on the rise again, how will the heroes find a way to not only fight evil, but to just get by? R&R!
1. Abduction

**A/N: Well, this is my sequel to Trust, for those who are familiar (if you're not, you might wanna read that first seeing as stuff from that story plays into this one). So you saw something in the summary about different pairings...yeah, about that...**

**Chapter 1: Abduction**

The sunset of Angel Island was stunning that night. Lying there in the tall grass, Knuckles was looking up into the orange void above him. There was nothing but the sound of the wind gently passing through the nearby trees, slowly shaking the flimsy leaves back and forth on the limbs. The daytime animals of the forest had retreated to their nests for the night, and the nocturnal dwellers had not yet surfaced. Up there on that hill, Knuckles slowly breathed in and then out. For the first time in three years, he felt like he could truly relax.

Tearing his gaze away from the orange sky, Knuckles rolled over and let his eyes lose themselves in the other orange void lying beside him. He had no trouble looking through the thin blades of grass to find those familiar locks of orange hair resting in the comfort of the nature around it. They drew his eyes like powerful magnets, and he dared not fight himself. They were beautiful and peaceful like the sunset above him, and he could think of nothing more precious than those very strands of hair—save for his own flesh and blood.

Suddenly, the peace of the scene was disturbed as the orange hair stirred next to Knuckles. He felt in his heart the form roll nearer to him, and he could not help but shiver as the aura around it passed over him, and his rough red fur brushed against the delicate orange fur. He let his eyes follow that beauty as it took the place of the orange sky above it. Knuckles smiled and closed his eyes.

Tikal bent down over his face and gently kissed his lips. She let herself rest on him as they lie there together under the setting sun. The gentle breeze began to pick up slowly, so she sank further into him and shared in everything that he had inside of him.

She picked her head up after a moment. "You're quiet," she whispered. "Is there something wrong?"

Knuckles opened his eyes. He wanted to just keep staring into her beautiful blue eyes for the rest of the night. But he could not ignore the small but powerful sound of her voice.

He dodged the question. "I'm just at peace."

He smiled as he tried to pull her in again, but she resisted. "Something's bothering you. I can feel it."

Knuckles relaxed his smile. His eyes shifted, trying to capture the words flying around inside his head. He was trying to make sense of his feelings, and he felt like he had been doing this for too long now, and he had to stop of he ever wanted a peaceful life.

"You know you can tell me anything," Tikal reminded him.

Knuckles shifted, and Tikal rolled back to her position beside him on the grass. Knuckles sighed before opening his mouth to speak.

"It's…I don't know. It's just…my life has been a living Hell these past few years. You know everything that's happened. You know what I did. I just feel like I'm never going to be able to get over it all and forgive myself."

Tikal never let her gaze wander from his purple eyes. "You're an amazing person Knuckles. I've known you for many years. You'll get through all of it. I know you will. I love you."

Knuckles smiled again and rolled over to be on top of her. He never felt so comfortable. "And I love you," he said as he bent down to kiss her again. His hand brushed her orange locks and swept the side of her face. "And if there's one thing I've done right these past few years … no, in my whole life, it's you. If I didn't have you, I would have been lost forever. You are my everything."

He kissed her again before finally rising to his feet. He lent his hand down to her, and she reached for it as he pulled her up to stand with him. With their hands still clasped, they turned to look out over the hill and down across the horizon. Their thoughts wandered for a few minutes before returning to Earth. They turned around and started walking back down the hill and down the path through the jungle beneath them. They let their hands go as they walked side by side, completely in step with each other.

"It wasn't your fault, you know," Tikal said to him after a moment.

Knuckles hesitated before answering. "I'd rather not talk about it," he said flatly. "It's in the past."

"The past makes us who we are in the present and future," she replied. "It's those experiences that define us. They shape our lives forever."

"It's not just Rouge that I'm talking about."

"I know," said Tikal. "What happened to Tails and Cream … has touched us all. If anything, it brought us all together, if only briefly."

Now Knuckles' eyes fell to the ground. He did not want to get on this subject. He had already dealt with this.

"I'll never forget Tails or Cream," he said, swallowing his emotions. "But I'm trying to move on. I have you now, and that's all I want to think about."

"What about Cuticla?" Tikal answered immediately.

"I will always love her," he said defensively. "But I won't always have her."

"Yes you will!" Tikal insisted. "No one can take her away from you. Not even her mother."

"She already has," Knuckles grumbled. "And she's even given her a new father."

Tikal stopped, which caused Knuckles to stop himself and look up at her. "You will always be her father," she told him. "You're the best father that Cuticla could ever ask for. No one, not even—"

"OK, I get it," Knuckles barked at her. Tikal took a step back, stunned.

"I'm … I'm sorry," said Knuckles, and this time he couldn't swallow his tears. "I just … I don't know what went wrong! What did I do to deserve all this? Why did I lose all but one of my friends? Why did I lose my daughter? Why did I lose everything?!"

He quickly brought his glove up and covered his face. He would not let Tikal see him like this. He wanted to be strong and he wanted to show her that he was getting through all of this.

But Tikal stepped forward again and moved in front of him. Her hand came up to touch his cheek. Even through her glove, she could feel the tear soak through it, and she instantly felt a sting of his pain.

"And why can't I stay strong?" added Knuckles, who tried with all of his strength to kill his pain. But he just couldn't find the strength to crush that boulder.

"You are strong," said Tikal as she brushed his face. "You are the strongest person I know. And that's why I love you. With everything that you've been through, you're still Knuckles the Echidna. You continue to fight when most would have given up. You don't give up. And you never will. And you will always have me. You know that."

Knuckles stifled his last tears and tried to smile down at her. "We'll always have each other," he added, reaching out again for her hand. She took it gladly and met his lips for another kiss.

But their solitude was suddenly shattered. Out of thin air, a small group of robots materialized. One had the distinct appearance of some sort of jellyfish, while the others looked all too familiar to the echidnas. The Egg Bots assembled and marched forward at Knuckles and Tikal, who quickly spread apart in an effort to divide the group of mechanical monsters. But before either echidna could make a move, another bright light flashed too reveal a massive, hammer-wielding machine. Knuckles and Tikal exchanged a quick glance. This was not going to be easy.

"Surrender now, or prepare to be subdued," commanded the head Egg Bot in its mechanical monotone.

"Over my dead body," taunted Knuckles, and he flew at the nearest Egg Bot. He made short work of it, but had to quickly roll out of the way of the enormous hammer in front of him. He stood up, ready to fight, but only to find himself encased in an aura that lifted him off the ground and under…the jellyfish robot! He was trapped and being captured. "Damn it!" he cursed out loud. As he spun freely inside the anti-gravity beam, he looked around for Tikal, who was wrapped up in taking care of herself. All of the other bots had swarmed around her and began combining their attacks in order to bring her down.

From his lop-sided view, Knuckles could barely make out Tikal struggling against the group of robots that had now just surrounded her. He tried in vain to break out of this hold, as the beam proved impenetrable against his rock-hard fists. He called out to Tikal, but that didn't do much to make her go any faster. After a moment, Knuckles began to panic. The large robot had charged into the fray and further distracted Tikal. It was looking like Knuckles wasn't going to make it out of this. He continued to fight, but his hope could not keep that same pace.

It was then that Knuckles finally began to lose sight of the world around him. The scene of the jungle on Angel Island faded as he heard the last words from the robots.

"Forget the girl!" one said. "We have the one the Master wants. We must go!"

Knuckles cried out again as the last remnants of his home disappeared, and the gloom of a metal room slowly became his new view.

**A/N: To all the KnuxRouge fans, please don't kill me. But please review ;-) .**


	2. The News

**A/N: ****This is my plan for the story. I'll do a chapter on the present (like Chapter 1), then I'll take a few chapters to cut back to the past (a month or so after the ending of Trust) so you guys see what leads to the present time of this story. So, for example, Chapters 2 and 3 will be focused on the past (hence all-italics), while I'm planning on returning briefly to the present in Chapter 4. Anyway, enjoy the KnuxRouge...while it lasts.**

_**Chapter 2: The News**_

_Standing in the doorway of their one-bedroom apartment, Knuckles and Rouge waved goodbye to their friends as Sonic, Tails, Shadow, Amy, Tikal, and Cream all made their way to the elevator at the end of the hall. Up on the seventh floor, the elevator was a nice substitute for taking the stairs down to the street. Even at the late hour of midnight, the hall lights kept the floor illuminated and really showed the apartment buildin__g's unique interior design. __Lamps hung from ruby red walls above a distinct purple carpet. It was a bit unusual to see those colors thrown together, and to some they might have even contrasted. But, to Sonic and his friends, at least, they actually matched pretty well._

_Knuckles and Rouge watched them walk to the elevator near the end of the hall, where Sonic pressed the button to descend, and the door opened after a moment of waiting. Knuckles and Rouge waited until they had all disappeared inside the elevator before turning around and closing their own door behind them. They were now all alone in their little apartment. But for them, the night was still young._

_With the light in the living room still on, Knuckles and Rouge sat down together on the small couch in front of the coffee table where someone had left their empty glass from when the group had gathered around to eat dinner and chat amongst themselves. Looking at the glass, Knuckles could see the image of __Sonic lying back against the chair, laughing at some joke Tails was telling. He saw Shadow sitting there on the couch appearing lost in thought or even melancholy. Knuckles looked next to Shadow and saw Amy talking with Cream, and it sounded like they were exchanging some meaningless gossip. Then Knuckles looked over at the other chair at Tikal, who was sitting there smiling at all of them and casually listening to the conversations around her. Then Knuckles looked over at Rouge, who was sitting next to him._

_He awoke from his thoughts and saw her still sitting there next to him. Beautiful as ever, Rouge looked stunning tonight for no particular reason. She was dressed in her usual attire of a heart-shaped chest plate above a skin-tight black outfit with large white gloves and even larger white boots with hearts jutting out over her toes. He loved how her attire always made her look threatening but so feminine at the same time. It was one of those things about her that he couldn't tear his gaze away from._

_But something was different that night. Her dress was the same, her make-up was the same, and her mannerisms weren't different. So what was it about her that was signaling to Knuckles tonight that something was __different? Being in the lighted room was not helping him any, so maybe he could see her better in the dark._

_Without really thinking about it, Knuckles slowly got off the cushion of the couch and walked over to the light switch. Rouge slowly turned her head and followed him around the couch and over to the wall, where he pushed the switch down without even asking for permission. She didn't question him when his outline walked back to the couch and sat down where his physical form had just left. She stared at his shadow, silently wondering what he was doing, and yet knowing all along what he wanted. Tonight was special, she knew. But she hadn't told him yet. Perhaps she could let it slip while they were in bed._

_Knuckles barely hesitated before closing in on Rouge's mouth. He felt like a detective knocking on the door of a suspect's house, and that he had all the warrant he needed. She didn't fight him; in fact she herself almost lunged back at him, but she would let him have this. She would let herself have this._

_Knuckles had Rouge almost laying down on the couch before Rouge tilted her head back and said, "Why don't we go into the bedroom?"_

_Knuckles sighed as he lifted himself off her and let her lead him to the bedroom door. She pushed it open and beckoned him in. He walked through the doorway without breaking stride. He watched as she fell backwards onto the mattress, never taking her eyes away from his. He knelt onto the bed and found himself on top of her once more. __He would find what he was looking for. No matter how deep he had to dig._

_He dropped his shovel into the garden and began searching. But like a criminal, he went quietly so as not to wake the owner in the house, making it sound as though it were just the usual night critter scurrying through the plants in search of food. He let it go on as normal, and he let Rouge find her familiar comfort before changing his pace._

_But Rouge was no stranger to stealth. She knew all the ways to get something out of someone. She could feel Knuckles knocking down her fences, and she opened her eyes to catch him furiously digging a hole into her garden. Although it was dark, she could see in his gaze that, although he was thoroughly enjoying his task, he was determined to find what he was looking for. So she decided to wake up. And that was all this criminal wanted in the first place._

_"There's something … that I need to tell you, Knuckles," she whispered. Rouge waited to see if Knuckles would acknowledge her. He slowly stopped his digging __in a vain effort to mask his true intentions, but Rouge continued._

_"This is very important," she warned him. "I want you to think about this before overreacting."_

_Knuckles opened his eyes and actually looked at her. His stare told her he was ready for anything, and that he was waiting anxiously for her big statement._

_"Knuckles," she began. "I'm … I'm pregnant."_

_Knuckles' face did not change for a moment. Then, his mouth slowly grew to a wide smile, and his eyes lit up the entire room. He tried to find the words to say, but when he could find none, he instead went forward again and began to kiss Rouge again._

_"Wait," she pleaded, trying to back away from him for just this moment. "We need to talk about this first."_

_He broke away from her. "What do we need to talk about?" he yelled. He was actually speaking in a normal voice. "We're going to be parents! You don't know how much I've been looking forward to this!"_

_Rouge smiled. "I'm sure you have been," she whispered. "But this is not something we can just take and run with. If we're going to be parents, we need to settle down and develop a life for our child. We'll have to forever commit ourselves to this one little__ creature. This won't be easy."_

_"But it will be worth it," Knuckles said with enthusiasm. "It'll be the best thing that could happen to us. Living together, raising our child, being a family…"_

_Rouge could only smile. She couldn't keep Knuckles down, not after the news she just gave him. But she tried to remain realistic. They would need to seriously think through things now. They would have a small child dependent upon them from now on. Their lives would change, but Knuckles was right—it would be worth it._

_Knuckles moved forward again, and this time Rouge let him get close. But just as he came within an inch of her face, a ringtone halted their happiness._

_Knuckles backed away and let Rouge lean over to the nightstand and grab her cell phone. She looked at the screen and recognized the number. "__Hey Sonic," she sighed. "What's up?"_

_"Sorry if I'm interrupting something," he began a bit slyly. "But I think you guys should turn on your TV. You might want to see what's on the late night news."_

_Rouge moved the phone away from her mouth. "Knuckles, can you turn on the TV?" she asked. "Sonic says there's something on the news."_

_Knuckles slowly got off the bed and walked over to the light switch and turned the lights on before going over to the TV. When he turned it on, he saw what was on the news and groaned._

_Rouge mimicked his frustration. They were both staring at the image of Dr. __Eggman__. He was laughing his usual maniacal laugh and apparently in his new secret base._

_"Again, we have just received word from Dr. __Eggman__ himself that he has broken out of prison and has returned to his hidden base," __came__ the newscaster's voice. "No word has been confirmed of the base's location or how the doctor managed to escape his cell in the maximum security prison fifty miles outside of San Antonio in Texas. A message was sent to all broadcasting stations with instructions that it be played throughout the world to 'fairly warn all those who call the planet Earth home'. We will now play Dr. __Eggman's__ message once more."_

_Knuckles and Rouge waited a few seconds for the message to come. Soon enough, __Eggman's__ familiar voice came on the air. "Good evening all," he said, grinning evilly. "So sorry to interrupt your sleep, but I felt you should all know that I am free once more. __It was much easier than I had anticipated breaking out of that pathetic prison, and I am now once again at __large. I am currently working on my latest and greatest plan to dominate this planet and all of your lives, so for you own sake, your days of freedom are numbered. I challenge any who think they are capable to come and find me. But I will not be defeated. Not this time. __Until next time!"_

_The audio was cut and the newscaster's voice returned once more to the TV. "And that was the message sent by Dr. __Eggman__, the recently-escaped—"_

_Knuckles reached over and turned the TV off. He glanced over at Rouge, who turned back to her phone. "Sonic?" she said into it. "Are you still there?"_

_"Yeah," __came __Sonic's__ reply. "Did you guys see it?"_

_"Yeah," said Rouge. "What are you guys __gonna__ do?"_

_"Well it's too lat__e to do anything now," said Sonic__. "We can meet tomorrow at Tails' place and discuss everything. We're not __gonna__ let __Eggman__ get away with anything this time."_

_"OK," said Rouge. "We'll be over at Tails' around noon tomorrow__."_

_"All right.__ See __ya__ then."_

_Rouge closed her phone and placed it back on the night stand. She turned to Knuckles and sighed. "Well, I guess we better get some sleep tonight," she said._

_Knuckles groaned slightly. But he still got back in the bed and got comfortable. Rouge slid underneath the covers as well, and the both drifted off to sleep._

_The next morning, Knuckles and Rouge got ready and drove down to Tails' place. They were greeted at the door by Amy, who let them in to join the others. When they all sat down in the living room, Sonic addressed them all._

_"So you guys all know that __Eggman's__ on the loose again," he began, making sure everyone was on the same page. "Well, we can't let him get anything started. We need to find his secret base and destroy everything in sight!"_

_"How do you propose we find his base?" asked Shadow._

_"Well, that's the hard part," admitted Sonic. "He probably knows we'll be searching for him, so he's going to be extra careful for now. But I was hoping that Rouge might be able to use her experience and connections to help us find the base." He glanced up at Rouge, who was still standing next to Knuckles._

_Rouge sighed. "Actually, I'm not so sure I'll be able to help much," she admitted to them. She then looked at Knuckles, then back at the group. "We have some big news."_

_The others continued to stare at her. She finally spoke, "I'm pregnant."_

_As soon as she said it, their eyes lit up. Amy and Cream squealed for her, Sonic and Tails congratulated her and Knuckles, and Shadow and Tikal simply smiled. But they all went up to hug Rouge and give Knuckles a high-five. It was in this commotion that something hit Rouge._

_It was as if a stone had plummeted into the bottom of her stomach. It happened as she reached over to hug Shadow. The last thing she saw before this suddenly came over her was Shadow's smiling face. And then…she saw his __drunk__ face._

_She saw the sweat beating from his head. She saw the ruffles in his spiked hair. She saw his red eyes moving randomly inside his head as he constantly struggled to find balance. She saw him over her, not knowing what he was doing or what might happen if he did such a thing._

_She saw the bedroom of her ship, _The Jewel_, around her. She could barely make out anything past the edges of the bed, but she knew what she was seeing. And she knew what she was feeling._

_"Rouge?" __came__ Shadow's voice. He was sober now. "Are you all right?"_

_Rouge shook herself back to the present. "Yeah," she said distantly. Then she refocused. __"Yeah, just a little dizzy."_

_"Well, if you're pregnant, I don't want you taking any chances__," he told her. "You should sit down."_

_Rouge did so, but slowly. The others could faintly tell something was bothering her, and it wasn't her pregnancy. "Rouge, is something wrong?" asked Knuckles. "Do you need to go home?"_

_Rouge blinked. "Yeah," she said suddenly. "But don't worry about me, Knuckles. You stay here. I'm just __gonna__ head home. I guess I got a little overwhelmed there for a minute. I'll be all right."_

_"You sure?" asked Knuckles._

_But Rouge was already out the door. "Yeah!" she yelled back. She left the others behind in Tails' living room, staring after her and her sudden odd exit._

_Rouge found herself marching down the city sidewalk in the complete opposite direction of her apartment. She was sweating nervously and mumbling quietly to herself. She was in shock. How could she have forgotten what had happened that night? How did she miss the fact that Shadow, in his drugged stupor, forgot to take the necessary protection before sleeping with her?__ How did she let all of this happen?_

_And how was she going to handle this? Should she go and get a paternity test? The thought gave her a shudder down her spine, and she prayed that she would not have to go there. She wanted to trust that her child was created out of love, not some drunken night of pity. But if it was the latter, what would she do? How would she break it to Knuckles that the father was Shadow, not him?__ Either way, she had to know the truth, and so she called her doctor to schedule the appointment promptly._


	3. An Ultimatum

_**Chapter 3: An Ultimatum**_

_"I can't tell you just how happy I am," Knuckles told Tikal. "I'm … I'm __gonna__ be a father. I've been dreaming of this for a couple of years. I never thought it would happen so soon."_

_Tikal smiled at him. "Well, you and Rouge definitely deserve it," she said. "You two were made for each other, and now you're going to be raising a child together. I'm so happy for you."_

_They were sitting in Tikal's house on Angel Island. Rouge had told Knuckles that she needed to stop by the hospital for a checkup and that she shouldn't be very long. It had been nearly a week since Knuckles and Rouge had announced the news to everyone, and they were all caught up in the excitement of the coming birth. Even Shadow seemed more upbeat and open than usual, so much so that he began to confess to Amy how he felt about her._

_He had actually asked her if she would be with him the night before, and they were now officially together. Amy, although surprised, gladly accepted Shadow's request. Over the past month, she had begun to see a side of Shadow she had not seen before: one of compassion and even optimism. She saw how he acted around her and knew he had feelings for her, and she slowly began to develop her own feelings for Shadow. It was only a matter of time before they came out in the open and got together._

_"I'm happy for Shadow, too," Tikal said. "He's finally found someone to make him happy. He needs someone like Amy in his life, and I'm just glad it all worked out for him."_

_"Yeah," Knuckles agreed. "I __gotta__ admit, though, that I never would have thought those two would have gotten together."_

_"Love works in strange ways, Knuckles," said Tikal. She stared into his eyes. "You never know just who your soul mate will be."_

_"Well I guess I got lucky then," he laughed. "Pretty soon, Rouge and I will be getting married. We'll be a family. It's all just … perfect, I guess."_

_Tikal smiled but looked down at the floor and said nothing. Knuckles took notice and spoke up. __"Something wrong?"_

_Tikal looked back up at him. "Oh, no," she said simply, trying to fool him. "I'm alright."_

_Knuckles raised his eyebrow. "I know when something's bothering you Tikal," he reminded her. He then studied her for a moment. Finally, he found the thorn in her side. "You'll find happiness Tikal. __Don't worry."_

_Tikal nodded, not trying to deny what she was making obvious about her own emotions. "I know," she said._

_Knuckles wanted to cheer her up even more, so he tried to press the matter. "You know … there is someone else we know who would be a great match for you."_

_Tikal didn't look up. "Sonic and I wouldn't work," she said simply. "I know it would work out for everybody, with all of us being together amongst ourselves and everything. But we don't connect. And he's still recovering from the loss of Blaze. He's not ready yet. And I'm in no hurry. Thanks, though."_

_Knuckles tried to smile. "Sorry."_

_"Don't be."_

_Suddenly, Knuckles' phone rang out. He reached down and opened it up. "Hey honey," he said into the phone._

_"Hey," __came__ Rouge's voice through the speaker. She sounded disturbed and even scared. "Can … can you come home now? I have something I … I need to tell you."_

_Tikal saw Knuckles' smile fall from Heaven to Hell in a split second__. "Yeah," he said almost urgently. "I'm leaving now."_

_He closed the phone and looked back up to Tikal. "Something's wrong," he told her. "I have to go."_

_"Do you want me to come?" she asked._

_"Thanks, but this might be something Rouge wants to be kept private. I'll fill you in when I can."_

_And with that, he ran out the door and down the path to the end of the island.

* * *

_

_The door to the apartment slammed open and Knuckles barged into the living room where Rouge was sitting on the couch, looking more upset than Knuckles could remember ever seeing her._

_"What's wrong?" he demanded. "How's the baby?"_

_Rouge cringed at the last word. Knuckles could see her tongue moving around behind her lips, and she appeared to be struggling with this important news she had to tell._

_"Rouge, if something's wrong with my baby, I need to know," Knuckles said, his voice shaking with fear. "What's wrong?"_

_Rouge shook her head. "I'm so sorry," she said distantly._

_"What? Tell me!"_

_"This baby … my baby … is not your baby."_

_Knuckles stopped and froze. He did not move for a minute, just staring at Rouge the whole time. Finally, he swallowed and said, "What did you say?"_

_Rouge swallowed in return. "After we told everyone that we were expecting a child, something hit me in the gut. Something that reminded me of … what happened on _The Jewel_ a month ago. It was telling me that something was wrong._

_"I went last week to get a paternity test for the baby, just to convince myself__ that I was overreacting. I wanted to believe that our love wouldn't fail us, I really did. But…"_

_Knuckles kept on staring, so Rouge was forced to continue. "But I was wrong. I went back to the hospital to get the results today, and … they say that Shadow is my baby's father."_

_Knuckles remained like a statue in the doorway. Rouge was still u__pset, and she was almost breaking down into tears in front of Knuckles. She was lost and didn't know where to even start._

_"Knuckles?" she finally said, shattering the painful silence in the room._

_Knuckles blinked back into reality. "The test is wrong," he stammered. "It's wrong. It's fixed. It's lying."_

_"No, Knuckles—"_

_"It can't be!" he shouted. "It can't be true."_

_Rouge tore the results out of her pocket and handed them to Knuckles. He grabbed them from her and let his eyes scan the paper furiously. It did not take him long to find the name of the baby's biological father, where it said "Shadow the Hedgehog" next to the mother's name, "Rouge the Bat". __Knuckles was__ speechless._

_"I … I don't believe this," he stuttered._

_"Knuckles," Rouge began softly. "__We can get through this." In her heart, she wasn't sure she could believe even herself, but she had to try._

_"We will," he told her. __"Because we won't have to worry about that child."__ He pointed almost sickeningly at Rouge's stomach as he said it._

_Rouge looked at him, bewildered. "W-what are you suggesting?"_

_"It's not too late for an abortion, so we'll need to schedule an appointment—"_

_"What?!"__ Rouge shouted over him. "Did you just say 'abortion'?"_

_"Rouge, I'm not going to be raising someone else's child. That night should never have happened, and if we're going to forget about it, we need to put it _all_ in the past. And that includes that child."_

_Rouge blinked, clearly taken aback. "This child is my own, Knuckles. I'm not going to 'get rid of it' like some piece of garbage. I'm going to give birth to it and raise it with you."_

_"Or maybe you could put it up for adoption at least," he replied, continuing with his previous statement. "Either way, we can forget all about it."_

_"I can't believe you__, Knuckles.__ I'm telling you that I want to raise this child with you, and you want nothing to do with it. You know that night between Shadow and I was a mistake, so why is this so hard for you?"_

_Knuckles looked at her as if the answer was the most obvious fact in __the world. But he took a breath__ before speak__ing. "__I will never be able to look at that child without seeing you … with Shadow. It's just going to be a constant reminder __of what happened."_

_"It meant nothing—"_

_"But it still happened!"_

_Rouge gaped at him. "You never got over that, did you? So you lied to my mother, is that it? Telling her it didn't affect you, and that you still trusted me? And you were surprised at Shadow, Tikal, and I for having trouble coping with it. I can't believe you."_

_"What did you expect?" he asked her. He was trying to keep his voice level. "I wasn't the one who cheated. You made that decision. And now we're standing here, today, going back to that night."_

_"We shouldn't be going back to that!" shouted Rouge. She was truly getting irritated now. "Knuckles, you're making this harder than it needs to be."_

_"Well, if you hadn't slept with Shadow—"_

_"You forgave me!"_

_"Well maybe now I'm regretting it!"_

_Silence collapsed back into the apartment. __Fortunately, it was the middle of the day, and most of the other tenants had gone out to work or to other random happenings. No one heard them arguing. No one heard the chilly silence._

_Knuckles was__ panting. "I'm giving you one chance," he told Rouge. "You're leaving me with no other option. Either give the baby up, whether by adoption or abortion, or … or I'm breaking off the engagement."_

_Rouge's jaw dropped to the floor, along with her heart. "__Knuckles,__ don't do this. We can make this work. I know we can."_

_Knuckles shook his head. "__You make this work. It's your decision. __Me,__ or the baby."_

_Rouge looked away from him. She didn't want to see him. And she didn't want him to see her answer in her eyes. She wasn't ready for him to see her decision._

_She suddenly stood up. She marched past Knuckles and towards the door. She wanted to slow down and catch his reaction before walking out, but she refused to let herself __have that__, and she kept walking. Knuckles did not look up until she was out the door and gone.

* * *

_

_Shadow sat on a small bench in the park in the center of the city. Amy had gone out shopping with Cream for a few __hours,__ and he had wanted to get out and relax somewhere. He also wanted to think about what he wanted to do with Amy. He had been toying with the idea of going away with her for a long vacation where they could be alone with each other. It was all happening suddenly, but he wouldn't have it any other way._

_His eyes were closed as he sat there, but his ears twitched as they picked up the sound of high-heeled boots clapping on the path approaching him. He recognized the unique sound of those boots. Shadow opened his eyes before Rouge had stopped in front of him._

_"Hey," he said casually, not taking notice of her expression._

_But then he saw her. Rouge looked worse than Shadow had ever seen her. And he had seen her in some pretty bad situations. "What's wrong?" he asked much more seriously._

_Rouge was panting, but her words came out clear as a full moon. "My baby," she began. "My baby is not Knuckles' baby."_

_Shadow raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you talking about?"_

_"My child," she said. "This child is yours, Shadow."_

_It did not take long for Shadow's other eyebrow to __raise__ far up his forehead, and his eyes widened with them. "How … how do you know?"_

_"Paternity test," she explained. "I had to be sure, but I never wanted this to happen. I didn't want to know this."_

_Shadow looked down at the ground, his eyes pacing back and forth. "Oh my God…"_

_He looked up at her again. "Does Knuckles know?"_

_"I just told him," she said, biting her lip. "Obviously he didn't take it well."_

_Shadow stared into space. He was fighting his mind and trying to __get the image of being in the bed with Rouge that night, but nothing he did made it go away. There was no stopping it now; it was a scar on his mind forever._

_"Shadow?"_

_Shadow broke out of his trance. "What are you going to do?"_

_Rouge looked down. "Well, I was kind of hoping you would give me some advice, actually. Knuckles just told me I would have to give up the baby if I wanted to stay with him. I love him so much, Shadow, but I can't bring myself to give up this baby. Since this child is also yours, what do you think we should do?"_

_"We?" asked Shadow, sounding shocked Rouge would even use such a word. "Rouge, there is no 'we'. I'm with Amy; I can't do this."_

_"But you are a father," Rouge reminded him. "You have to think about your child."_

_"Rouge, I … I can't be a father. Not yet. __And not with you.__ This was not supposed to happen. We were supposed to be able to forget about all this. How can we do that now?"_

_"Well unfortunately, it happened, and now we have to deal with the consequences. Do you want this child?"_

_Shadow simply sat there. He had come to the park to relax his mind and think about his future with Amy. Now suddenly he was just told he had an illegitimate child with Rouge. He couldn't see straight._

_"I don't know," he finally said. "I can't make this decision, Rouge. I'm sorry__."_

_"But Shadow, you have to—"_

_"No," he said. "You have to work this out with Knuckles. I can't do this."_

_Rouge was gaping at him as Shadow stood up and walked away. She couldn't believe this. The two people she was closest to were pushing her away. Knuckles forced her into a decision she could not make, and Shadow could not and would not help her. Feeling hopelessly lost, she collapsed onto the bench where Shadow had just left and cried quietly to herself.

* * *

_

_"Oh my God…" said Tikal._

_"I know," said Knuckles._

_Tikal stared at the hard brown wall of her house. "What are you going to do?"_

_Knuckles could only shake his head. "I don't know," he muttered. "It was all so perfect."_

_"You know, I think it still can be," she replied. "You can make it work."_

_"It's out of my hands, Tikal," Knuckles said flatly. "Rouge made her own bed with this. She has to make this decision."_

_"Don't push her away," she told him. "You don't think she's stung by this news like you are?"_

_Knuckles frowned. "It doesn't matter," he replied. "We can't raise that child together. I won't be able to."_

_"Did you ever consider that you just might be able to before you even get the chance?"_

_"Tikal, that baby is not mine. Let Shadow raise it. He and Amy can have it."_

_"You can't do that to Rouge. It's hers too. Don't make her give up her baby."_

_Knuckles sighed. "I don't want to. I just want to start over. I want to go back in time and stop that night from ever happening."_

_"We all do," Tikal reminded him. "But we can't. We have to make do with the present as it is and how we'__ve made it."_

_Knuckles did not reply. He just kept staring at the wall. "Knuckles, please, don't throw this all away. You're lucky to still have Rouge. You almost lost her on __Malterr__. Don't lose her permanently."_

_"But how can I get around this? I don't think I can live with Rouge and Shadow's child. I can't see myself __doing it."_

_"I don't understand—"_

_"You wouldn't," he told her. "It's my pride. I can't let go of it. I'm sorry."_

_Knuckles began to walk to the door. But he stopped when Tikal spoke out to him. "Don't be sorry to me," she advised. "Don't let it slip away from you, Knuckles. You may have your pride, but Rouge has a mother's love. You may lose her for good."_

_Knuckles did not answer her as he turned back to the door and left for home.

* * *

_

_It was just another day for Sonic as he sprinted through the city's park. He felt the __warm breeze fly at his face as he broke the sound barrier with a quick burst of speed.__ He took a quick look around to enjoy the quiet scenery of the park. His eyes couldn't escape city skyscrapers in the background, but the park had a fair amount of trees and shrubs that gave it a more natural look enveloped in a modern-age metropolis. His eyes glanced quickly to his right and, to his surprise, he saw Rouge sitting on a bench, doubled over._

_He slowed his legs down to a walking pace as he went over to the bench where Rouge was sitting. When he got closer, he could hear her quietly sobbing into her hands. She must have heard him approach, because she quickly sat up and tried hard to keep from crying any more. But Sonic wasn't fooled._

_"Hey Rouge," he said. "What's wrong?"_

_"Oh nothing," she lied. She pretended to look around, all the while avoiding __Sonic's__ eye._

_Sonic went and sat down next to her. "Tell me what's bothering you," he said._

_Rouge bit her lip before answering him. "I just got back from the hospital, and … apparently Shadow is my baby's father, not Knuckles."_

_Sonic's__ jaw dropped. "Oh my God," he whispered. "__Do__ either of them know?"_

_"Both do, actually," Rouge replied. "And neither is being helpful in all of this."_

_"Tell me," he said._

_Rouge sighed heavily. "Knuckles __is__ refusing to raise this child with me. He__ can't bring himself to raise someone else's child, I guess, and he's bringing up that night between Shadow and I, saying he'll never be able to forget it now. He wants me to get rid of the baby, or he's breaking up with me."_

_Before Sonic could get a word out of his mouth, Rouge continued. "And Shadow wants nothing to do with this child. He doesn't want to be worried about it because he's with Amy now and he's trying to move on. He won't give me an opinion on what to do, and he's the baby's father. He wants to pretend like it never happened."_

_Rouge struggled to hold her composure. Sonic saw her fighting to keep her face level and decided to offer his own opinion. "I think you should keep the baby."_

_"What?" she asked, bewildered._

_Sonic cleared his throat before explaining. "It's your child, right? It's not Knuckles'. So he doesn't really get a say in the matter. And he shouldn't be holding your relationship like a hostage. I think if you really try to talk to him, you can get him to come around."_

_"I tried," she told him. "He wouldn't listen. He's too proud. And he made it clear that this child will only serve to haunt him every day for the rest of his life."_

_"Your baby is innocent," Sonic reminded her. "It didn't ask to be conceived this way. But it happened, and there's nothing Knuckles can do about it but accept it. He should know that that night meant nothing to you. Your baby shouldn't haunt him like he says it will.__ Just give him a day or two. I can't imagine he's serious about breaking up with you. I know you mean everything to him."_

_Rouge shrugged. She wasn't sure she was satisfied with __Sonic's__ take on the issue, but he at least gave her an answer, and she hadn't even asked him for one. "Thanks Sonic," she said, and she gave him a hug. Taken by surprise, Sonic brought his arms up to hug her in return. After a brief moment, she let go and took off down the path__. Sonic stood there, hoping he had done the right thing._


	4. Cuticla

**A/N: So just to remind you all that this chapter takes place in the present (kind of continues from Chapter 1). It's short, but important. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 4: ****Cuticla**

"Shhh," said Rouge softly as she reached down into the crib to pick up her daughter. Cuticla had woken from her nap, and she wasn't happy. Rouge wasn't quite sure why she was crying so hard. She had fed Cuticla and changed her diaper before putting her down an hour ago. The temperature in the room was leveled at seventy degrees. Rouge pressed her hand to the baby's forehead to check for a fever, but found none. And she didn't look or sound like she was coming down with something.

Rouge decided to sit herself down in the rocking chair in the nursery. The room was actually pretty large for having just Cuticla's crib and a few drawers of clothing. And it was a large room for the size of the apartment that they were living in. The walls had been covered with wallpaper the color of strawberries, and scented air fresheners gave an aroma of the fruit growing from the floor. The emerald green carpet only completed the feel of a strawberry farm inside the room. It wasn't coincident that the entire room matched this way. Sonic said he always thought of strawberries when he saw Cuticla.

Rouge looked over at the tiny dresser in the corner. Next to the window, it had a small digital clock resting on its wooden surface. It read 3:08 PM. Rouge looked back down at Cuticla, who was slowly calming down in Rouge's arms. Rouge began slowly rocking back and forth while speaking softly to her daughter.

"I love you so much," she whispered as the baby stretched its arm up to touch Rouge's face. Rouge let her tiny fingers brush her nose as Cuticla struggled against fatigue. She yawned quietly, and Rouge could see her amethyst eyes fill with a light cloud. Her eyelids growing heavy, Cuticla nestled her head into Rouge's arm. Rouge began to slow the rocking until the baby's eyes had closed. Even then, Rouge did not cease rocking the chair. She herself was in a trance watching her daughter sleep.

Cuticla was a remarkable child. It was not entirely common for a baby to be born to a bat and an echidna, but that fact alone was not why those few who knew her knew she was special. She was only ten months old, and yet anyone could see either of her parents in her. She was born with her mother's ears, but her father's fur color had given her the look of the fruit she had been labeled with by those around her. Knuckles' dreadlocks had been passed down to Cuticla, who was even now starting to sprout strands of hair from the top of her head. She also had Knuckles' eyes, but there was no denying Rouge's fair face. She would undoubtedly receive Rouge's figure, and Rouge couldn't help but smile upon seeing small black stubs growing from her daughter's backside.

Cuticla also had her father's larger hands. But instead of intimidating knuckles, Cuticla seemed to have strong fingernails. One day when Rouge was carrying Cuticla into the nursery to put her down for the night, she had turned around to close the door behind her. With Cuticla still in her arm, the baby reached out innocently and caught the door as it was closing. Her finger did not get caught, but she should have easily broken her nail. Rouge, surprised the child was not wailing in pain, took Cuticla's hand in her own and examined her fingernail. There wasn't even a scratch. Putting two and two together, Rouge realized that Cuticla's fingernails were the equivalent of Knuckles' … well, knuckles.

Rouge slowly got up out of the chair and walked over to set Cuticla down in the crib. She watched her for a moment longer, listening to her breathe softly against the cotton sheets. After a minute, Rouge walked over to bend down and kiss her daughter gently on the side of her small head. After everything that had happened, Rouge could at least take happiness in having Cuticla with her.

Rouge began to think about all that happened in the last two years. It killed her to know what she knew now and how, if she had kept it all a secret, she would not have had to endure all that she had. She put everyone through so much between her and Knuckles and their collapse. But she had found a true friend—and so much more—in Sonic. He had been so great through all of it, especially with him going through the loss of Blaze and, most recently, the loss of Tails and Cream. And now, with Shadow and Amy still gone, and Knuckles and Tikal keeping to themselves as Sonic and Rouge did, their group of friends was, in essence, destroyed. It was still a life that Rouge struggled terribly with, but at least she struggled together with Sonic.

She walked over to the door. Sonic wasn't home; he was out working. He had to take a regular job as a travel agent in order to support his … well, family. Rouge was beginning to feel more comfortable with calling their small group a family, even though there were no legal connections.

She opened and closed the door quietly. She turned around from the door and stopped dead.

Right in front of her in the living room stood two Egg Bots and a jellyfish-looking robot. They looked menacing, and Rouge was certainly startled by their appearance in her own home.

"Get the Hell out of my home," she uttered quietly, thinking for Cuticla's safety.

The robots wasted no time. One of the Egg Bots charged forward at her with its lance, but Rouge easily jumped out of the way and dove at the other bot. She tried to keep quiet so as not to wake her daughter, but Cuticla's safety was more important than her comfort right now. So Rouge let loose on the bot, dismantling it with one swift drill kick. But the other bot quickly moved in on her and knocked her into the wall with its heavy shield. Before she could react again, the jellyfish had moved over her and absorbed her into its beam. Rouge cried out to try and break free, but it was no use. With Sonic at work for a few more hours, Rouge knew there was no hope. Quietly, she let herself fade from the room and into a dark metal chamber.

Meanwhile, Cuticla had twitched in her sleep as she lay there innocently while the robots vacated the apartment.


	5. Fallout

**A/N: So I guess I've confused you guys a little. Remember, Chapter 4 was in the present, and Chapters 2 and 3 were in the past, as is Chapter 5. ****Cuticla**** is Knuckles' daughter. So why did the paternity test say she was Shadow's daughter? ****Hmmmm****…guess you'll have to read and find out.**

_**Chapter 5: Fallout**_

_Rouge shut the door behind her and collapsed against it. __Knuckles wasn't__ home, and she wasn't sure she was even ready to face him again. __Sonic's__ words were ringing in her ears, but Knuckles face was shadowed over her eyes. Rouge didn't know how Knuckles would handle what she had to say, but she knew it had to be said. She wasn't going to give up on Knuckles, even if he was ready to give up on her._

_Suddenly the doorknob turned and Rouge felt the door force her up. Before Rouge could actually get out of the way of the door, Knuckles forced it open and almost knocked Rouge to the floor. He walked in to find her on the verge of falling, and he rushed forward to catch her._

_He pulled her to her feet with ease, and he held her hands for a moment after. Rouge almost felt uncomfortable standing there with Knuckles, her hands resting in his own. But she didn't fight it. She was supposed to preserve this, not ruin it._

_"Knuckles," she began. She tried not to tremble. "I think we should talk about the baby."_

_He let go of her and watched her sit down on the couch. He did the same once she had made herself comfortable._

_"Knuckles," she said again. "I want this baby. I know you don't want it right now, but it's still months away from birth. Just think, living here together with a child. __Our child.__ All the mornings waking up and seeing its tiny face. __Holding it while you feed it from a little bottle.__ Or just standing above its crib and watching it examine the world around it. Imagine being parents. Imagine being a father to this child. Wouldn't it __be wonderful?"_

_Knuckles moved closer__ to her__. "I can't tell you how great it would feel to be a father. But … __Rouge,__ it's not my child to take care of. I just can't bring myself to do it. I can't."_

_"I know you can," she assured him. "You would be a great father, Knuckles. I know you would."_

_"Rouge, you don't understand," he said, and he stood up suddenly. "I'm not a father. Not to your child. I can't__ be."_

_"Knuckles, you need to give this a chance," said Rouge. "You could be trying to destroy something that could be the best thing that ever happened to you."_

_"It's so easy for you to say that, though. It's your child. And you wouldn't have to live with that image of your lover sleeping with—"_

_"I will never forgive myself for what I did!" Rouge shouted. Now she had stood up. "I wasn't thinking at all. And that was just one of many mistakes I've made in my life. Besides, it's not like you've lived a perfect life."_

_Knuckles paused before he spoke, absorbing Rouge's words. "If you want to move past that night with Shadow, then you need to give that child up. If you really regret what you did, why can't you leave everything behind? That starts with this child."_

_"Moving on would be forgetting the night and thinking about the child that I WILL give birth to and raise. And I'm not the only one who thinks so."_

_Rouge closed her mouth as soon as she finished. She didn't want to drag Sonic into __this__ and getting someone between her and Knuckles was__ not__ the best thing right now._

_"I know that," he said, and she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "I talked to Tikal about it. Let me guess, you went running to Shadow?"_

_"And Sonic," she said in a low voice. __She didn't care now. She felt like she had been pushed into the corner of the room and that this was her last defense. "He told me that you shouldn't even have a say in this; it's not your child."_

_Knuckles was__ certainly stunned. His eyes widened for a moment before becoming slits again. "It isn't __Sonic's__ call either," he shot back. "He should mind his own business."_

_"Listen to yourself, Knuckles!" yelled Rouge. "Why are you doing this? You're pushing everyone away because you can't get over one damn night! Sonic is only trying to help us."_

_"Who's the 'us'? __You and I, or you and the baby?"_

_Now Rouge was stunned. She couldn't even respond._

_"You've pushed me to this again," Knuckles went on. "If you want that baby, then you won't have me. It's your choice."_

_Now, for the first time since she had come back to the apartment, Rouge could speak. She could speak with more certainty than she thought possible right now._

_"Then I don't want you."_

_With that, Rouge walked to the door. But before she got to it, she was stopped by a small tug. She jerked her head behind her only to see Knuckles still standing behind the couch. It was Rouge's own hopes that stopped her in her tracks__. Upon seeing Knuckles motionless behind her, she turned around to the door and walked out with nothing stopping her.

* * *

_

_"Yeah, I'll have something light," said Sonic from his stool at the bar. The bartender heard his request and went to get a bottle of a light alcohol. Sonic had been to this bar a number of times recently. He actually enjoyed coming here on Sunday nights to just forget all his troubles. It was pretty calm most of the time, and since he was actually of the drinking age now, Sonic took advantage of his opportunity to come here._

_The bartender had just placed his drink on the counter when Sonic sensed someone sit down next to him. He turned and was shocked to see Tikal, of all people, at the bar._

_"Can I have the same?" she asked the bartender, pointing to __Sonic's__ drink. The bartender walked away without so much as a nod, and Tikal took this opportunity to turn to Sonic._

_"Have you heard the news?" she asked him._

_"About Rouge's baby?__Yeah."_

_Tikal frowned. "That's such a shame," she __said. "They had everything perfect. __Now this."_

_Sonic turned and looked at her. "I don't know what the big deal is," he said, shrugging. "Knuckles __doesn't__ realize what he has."_

_"I know, but I can't blame him for being stubborn. After all, it happened because of … well __because __of Rouge cheating on him."_

_"But Tikal, he needs to get over it. The kid's innocent. You can't just get rid of it like that. It's not going to make any pain go away. It will only tear Knuckles and Rouge apart."_

_"They can't just give it to Shadow?"_

_"Shadow wants nothing to do with it," he replied. "Besides, Rouge can't just pass her problems onto Shadow. He has his own life now. She should make that decision. Not Shadow and not Knuckles. __Only Rouge."_

_Tikal looked away and took a sip of her drink__, which had just been placed in front of her__. She then stood up from her stool. "I just hope all this turns out all right."_

_Sonic nodded as Tikal turned and walked away from the counter. "I'm just going to the ladies' room. I'll be back."_

_Sonic raised his glass again, and when he put it back down on the counter, he felt someone else's presence sit itself next to him. On his right, Rouge had sat down and asked for__a __martini. __Sonic's__ eyebrows shot up faster than the speed of sound._

_"Rouge, what's wrong?" he asked, genuinely worried about her considering what she was about to consume seemingly without a second thought.__ Neither of them took notice of the booth catty-corner from their stools, where a being hidden in an overcoat and large hat twitched at the sound of their conversation._

_Rouge looked at Sonic__. "I think Knuckles and I are done," she admitted. She shook her head. "He just won't accept what happened. He won't back away from this. He won't see what could be something beautiful."_

_"Rouge, I know you want this baby," Sonic began. "But you can't lose Knuckles. I know how much he means to you. And I know you mean the world to him. Don't give up, Rouge. It will all work out. You'll see."_

_Rouge sighed, but Sonic wasn't going to let her stay like this. He reached out and put a hand on __her own__ taking it gently in his__"It will work out," he said sincerely.__"__I promise."_

_Rouge smiled lightly as her d__rink was placed down__ beside her on the counter._

_It was then that both of them heard footsteps approaching them. Before either had turned around to see who it was, they heard Tikal yell out, "__Knuckles,__ STOP__!"_

_It was too late. Tikal couldn't get over to him in time, and Knuckles swung his fist forward at Sonic, knocking him off the chair and into the counter. In doing so, his hand instinctively let go of Rouge's as it collapsed with the rest of his body to the floor. He was out cold._

_Tikal had run over to Knuckles and tried to pull him away. She had to get him out of here while she still could. __Before he ruined his life forever._

_But his feet were planted, and he was fuming and breathing heavily. He stared at __Sonic's__ unconscious body before turning to face Rouge. However, before he could say anything, a white glove slapped him across the face._

_Knuckles let the sting sink deep into his soul and let Rouge shout at him. __"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" she screamed. "ARE YOU DRUNK OR ARE YOU JUST ALWAYS THIS MUCH OF AN ASS?! SONIC WAS JUST TRYING TO HELP ME!"_

_"Did that feel __good__?" he spat at her. "Did you like holding __Sonic's__ hand? What's the matter Rouge, you can't handle being alone for just one night?__"_

_Knuckles wanted to keep going__, but Tikal finally got a good tug at him, and he was dragg__ed away by her toward the door__. But Rouge did not stop shouting._

_"I HATE YOU KNUCKLES!" she yelled. She couldn't hold back her tears, but she knew now, once and for all, that she had no regrets. It was over. And she never wanted to see the echidna again. "I HATE YOU!"_

_"HAVE FUN WITH THAT BASTARD CHILD, YOU WHORE!" he yelled back. __He didn't get to see or hear her reaction because Tikal closed the door behind him.__ While all of the commotion was going on, th__e mysterious being__ in the nearby booth had gotten up and wal__ked out the other door_

_Tikal grabbed Knuckles'__ hand again and took off running down the side of the road, hoping they could at least get to the forest before they were found._

_Knuckles was__ apparently doing everything he could to make Tikal's job difficult. He did not pull away from her, but he did not run by himself and felt like dead weight as she was dragging him towards the trees. She had tried letting go of him, but he just wanted to stand there and glare. She wasn't about to let him get himself into any more trouble, so she grabbed his hand again and ran with him._

_Once they had finally reached the forest and were safely hidden behind hundreds of tree trunks, Tikal stopped._

_She turned to him and pulled him to look at her. "What's wrong with you?" she demanded, though not quite as harshly as Rouge had. __"Do you even realize what you just did?"_

_"What I just did has already been done," he replied lowly. "It was set in motion months ago."_

_Now Tikal wanted to smack him. But before she could even reply, Knuckles went on. "How am I supposed to trust her ever again?" he asked. "How was I supposed to pretend like that child was mine?"_

_"By being a mature, level-headed person," she answered. "You could have had a family with the woman you've always loved, but instead you chose to destroy all that. __Why couldn't you just take what was right in front of you?"_

_Knuckles closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm going to say this once, and then I'm never answering this question again." He opened his eyes. "It's not in me to just accept Shadow's child as my own. Maybe I'm just too proud, but that's who I am, and not you or anyone else can change that. I stand by my decision."_

_"So you stand by what you've done then?" asked Tikal. "You defend what you did to Sonic, someone who, not too long ago, was mourning the death of his love?"_

_"Well it didn't take him long to find another one," Knuckles' voice came low and cold. "Mark my words, those two will end up getting together. __And good riddance to both of them."_

_Now he stormed off, but Tikal was not going to let him walk away from this. "You do realize that when the others hear about this, they won't be able to look at you the same way again?"_

_Knuckles turned to her. "Do I look like I care what they think of me?"_

_He didn't, and Tikal couldn't stand it. "__Knuckles,__ don't do this. You're becoming that cold, lonely person that always kept to himself on Angel Island. You're going backwards. Please don't fall back to that."_

_"I'm going home," he said. "You do what you want."_

_He did not break his stride to look back at her as he walked. __But as much as Tikal was hurt by his words, she knew he was hurting much more than she was. She wasn't going to let him go alone. And so she ran to catch up with him as they walked back to the Island together.

* * *

_

_"If you could just tell us who it was that attacked you, we—"_

_"No, please," Sonic calmly interrupted the police officer. "It was nothing. I'll take care of it."_

_The police officers looked around at each other before accepting __Sonic's__ response. __"All right__ But if you have any more problems with that guy, call us. And don't do anything stupid." He turned to Rouge, who was standing beside Sonic. "Keep an eye on him," he told the bat._

_Rouge was silent as the police left the bar. Most of the other people there had left with the permission of the cops, but some remained, trying to go on with their casual Sunday night out._

_"Do you __wanna__ tell me why you're just going to let Knuckles get off that easy?" Rouge asked._

_Sonic sighed. "Don't worry about me," he said simply. "I don't need revenge. Are you going to be all right?"_

_"Sonic…" she __stuttered__"Knuckles just knocked you out, and you're asking me if I'll be all right? You should really go to the hospital or something." She glanced at the large bump jutting from his forehead where he had hit the counter. The color around his eye wa__s deep enough to where it could be seen even against his blue fur_

_"I'm fine," he assured her. "But Knuckles just walked out on you, and I feel like it's somewhat my fault."_

_"Your fault?!" she exclaimed. "Why, because you were comforting me when I need someone to lean on? That gave Knuckles the excuse to do what he did?!"_

_"Rouge…"_

_"No," she said. "Knuckles just ended our relationship. He walked out on me. And now he attacked you for being there for me. In fact, I couldn't be happier now. I finally see him for what he is: a selfish, jealous, egotistical jackass."_

_"But you still love him."_

_"Are you delusional from that blow still?" she asked. "I hope I never see him again."_

_"Rouge, you're in pain. You don't mean that."_

_"No, you're the one who's in some pain," she said, referring to his wincing as he reached up to rub his head. __"Why don't you come back to stay with me for the night?__ I can probably get something for that bruise."_

_"Actually, why don't you come back with me to my place?" said Sonic. "You could probably use some company, and it'll help to get out of your apartment I think."_

_Rouge looked away. "Well … I don't know. I mean I just broke up with Knuckles. I feel like I need to get my bearings."_

_"Are you sure?"_

_Rouge thought for a moment. __"Yeah.__ I bet Knuckles went back to Angel Island tonight, so I should be all right. I'll see you tomorrow."_

_She gave Sonic a hug before walking over to the door. Once she had stepped out, Sonic saw no reason to stay at the bar anymore, so he too walked out. He could see Rouge walking down the street __away from him before he turned around to go the other way. __But then…_

_"Sonic, wait!"__ Rouge shouted from down the street. The hedgehog turned around to see her running towards him._

_"I was just thinking, and … would you mind if I did stay at your place tonight?"_

_Sonic smiled. "Not at all," he said. And with that, they walked off down the street towards __Sonic's__ apartment.

* * *

_

_"Hey, where have you been?" asked Amy as Shadow walked in the door to her apartment._

_"Oh, I just took the long way here," he said. He had told Amy he would meet her tonight at 10, but he noticed he was almost a half hour late. "Sorry I'm so late. I just … needed some time to think about something."_

_"Oh … OK," she responded, sounding a little puzzled. But she was still happy to see him. "So, how was your day?"_

_"Well, Amy, I've got some news I need to tell you," he admitted, and she leaned forward and waited for him to spill it._

_"Amy, I'm … I'm a father."_

_Amy was certainly shocked. "But Shadow … I'm not pregnant."_

_"I know." He sighed. "Apparently I'm the father of Rouge's baby, not Knuckles."_

_Now Amy was stunned. "Shadow…"_

_"I promise you Amy that this will not get between us. I won't let it. I've already made it clear to Rouge that I am not going to be a part of that child's life. She's going to have to work it out with Knuckles__."_

_"Shadow, I would never ask you to give up your child. Not for me."_

_"I know Amy, but I just think it's the best thing for all of us. We're all trying to move on. If I tried to hold on to that baby, I would just be opening old wounds. Knuckles and Rouge are already arguing over it; I would just make matters worse by getting involved. Besides, I honestly don't feel any emotional connection to the child, even if it is my own."_

_Before Amy could respond again, he put his hand up. "I've actually come here to talk to you about maybe … going on an extended vacation. Like across the world, to kind of help __us__ get away from the craziness around here."_

_Amy couldn't help but let her eyes light up at the sound of the word __'__vacation__'__. But she tried to remain level-headed. "H-how soon?" she asked with hope in her voice._

_"Well, maybe in a week or so. As soon as we can get everything planned, I—"_

_Amy squealed with delight, seemingly forgetting about what Shadow had said earlier. She __leaned forward and kissed him gently, to which his face grew to the color of his eyes. But after Amy had backed away, she leaned forward again, but this time she offered much more. Their lips connected for much longer, and they both fell lower to the couch. This was going to be a happy time for them, and they were determined to enjoy every minute of it.

* * *

_

_"Knuckles, I'm worried about you," said Tikal. She was standing in the echidna's doorway, a place neither had seen much of since Knuckles and Rouge had stayed together in the apartment for the past __month._

_"Don't be," he told her. "You can go home. I'll be all right."_

_"I don't trust you," she said. "I'm worried you're going to do something stupid. I don't want to leave you here by yourself."_

_"Well then stay if you want," he said, holding his hand out by his side indicating that she could come in. Tikal did so and walked past him looking relieved that he had listened to her for once.__ They both went to sit down on the couch._

_"So doctor, what's wrong with me?" he joked in a grumpy voice._

_"You're reverting," she said seriously. "I don't want to see you go back to keeping to yourself all the time. It's not good for you."_

_"You know what else isn't good for me? When the person closest to me betrays me and leaves me__ for an illegitimate child."_

_Tikal wanted to respond, but she felt like her words were just going to fall on deaf ears. She just had to stay with him. She didn't have to offer him any advice._

_"Why are you doing this?" he suddenly asked her._

_Tikal looked up __at him. "What?"_

_"Why are you helping me? You're defending me from what's coming to me. You even said you don't understand why I did what I did. So why not leave me here?"_

_Tikal wanted to say "That would be too easy", but she caught herself. __"Because I care about you.__ You're my best friend. I may not agree with what you did, but I stand by you, no matter what. It's what friends do for each other.__"_

_"But you're giving up a lot for my sake," he said. "I don't want you to lose your other friendships just to pity me."_

_Tikal got closer to him. "Knuckles, do you remember when I told you that you were like my brother? Well__ that's how much you mean to me. And if I have to give up my relationship with the others for you … then so be it."_

_"Tikal," Knuckles uttered. "I'm really touched by that. I … I can't tell you how lucky I am to have you with me."_

_He then reached forward and surprised Tikal by wrapping her in a tight embrace. She cou__ld do nothing more than reach forward__ and return the hug. They let themselves stay like that for a long moment before letting go, but something inside both of them seemed to want it to stay._

_When he sat up again, Knuckles looked deep into Tikal's eyes. He could see in them happiness masking worry, but he couldn't blame her. His life was taking too much of a toll on her own, and he wished for her sake that she would let go of him for just one night and get some sleep.__ She had her own life to worry about and didn't need to fret over him all the time. But that was just the type of person Tikal was. She cared deeply about him, much more than he knew he deserved. She was too good for him._

_And yet…there was something about her eyes __that drew her to him__. He knew he shouldn't be looking at her like this, but something inside him shimmered when he looked at her. It was a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time. His stomach began to squirm inside him, and his heart began to beat rapidly. Knuckles looked down at her hand, which was resting gently on his couch cushion. Then he looked at his own hand, which was trembling beside him. He quickly withdrew it behind his back, but Tikal had seen it already. And there was no turning back._

_Before Knuckles knew what he was doing, his lips connected with Tikal's. But a split second later he snapped himself out if it and came back to reality. He pulled away to see Tikal wide-eyed staring at him. The look on her face made him want to cry and tell her how deeply sorry he was for what he just did. And yet, he had no regrets for anything that he had just done._

_"I … I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry," he finally said. __"I'm really, really sorry."_

_Tikal tried to find the right words to say, but she couldn't grasp them in her mind. In fact, she couldn't grasp anything in her mind at the moment.__ Her feelings were spinning around inside her heart, and she was too dizzy to be able to make sense of them. But after a moment of balancing her head, she could only see Knuckles.__ And when she did, she had to turn away._

_"Me too," she whispered.

* * *

_

_"Where do you keep the Advil?" __asked Rouge from __Sonic's__ medicine cabinet in the bathroom._

_Expecting an answer from outside in the living room, she was startled when __Sonic's__ voice answered a few inches from her in the doorway. "Rouge, really, I'm fine. Thanks though."_

_Rouge looked at him like a mother fretting over her son's bruises. "You don't look fine. Are you sure?"_

_Sonic smiled. "Positive."_

_Rouge sighed. "All right, you win. Why don't you just go lay down on the couch and I'll try and rub your head. At least let me do something."_

_"Rouge, you don't have to feel sorry for me. This wasn't your fault. I asked you to come here because I felt like you needed to talk to someone, not because I need you to rub my head."_

_"Well," Rouge hesitated__ as they both sat down__. "I don't know what there is to talk about. Knuckles and I are over. I'm pregnant__ with Shadow's child, which he doesn't want a part of. Everything's going great," she added with obvious sarcasm._

_Sonic looked into her eyes. "Rouge, you have a baby on the way. That doesn't make you feel good inside?"_

_Rouge tried to smile, but Sonic saw her lip trembling. "Why should it?" she whispered. Sonic could hear her faint voice shake as she spoke. "Why should it?!" she yelled suddenly._

_She grabbed the pillow next to her and slammed into the couch. She then stood up and furiously launched it at the wall, thankfully out of the reach of anything fragile. "Why should I be happy?!" she screamed. __"WHY?!"_

_She had no strength left to stand and shout anymore, so she collapsed back on to the couch, where Sonic pulled her in and held her tight. He felt her sob into his shoulder and shake uncontrollably in his arms__. He rubbed her back gently and let her release everything that was building up inside of her. She cursed between soft sobs and even tried to fight __Sonic's__ grasp. But she didn't have the strength to resist it. So she sat there and cried as silently as she could with Sonic holding her close as a thunderstorm was booming outside._

_And for the first time in what felt like forever, Knuckles and Rouge's apartment suffered an empty, stormy, and lonely night._


	6. Reluctant Reunion

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in over a month. I've had massive writer's block, work, school, etc. But this chapter actually turned out to be one of my longest ever, and definitely the longest of this story so far. So plenty to read after a long wait ;-).**

_**Chapter 6: Reluctant Reunion**_

_"Are you absolutely sure that that was what she said?"_

_"Yes Master. The child is that of the ultimate life-form, not the guardian of the Mas—"_

_Eggman pounded the console beside him. He pounded it so hard, in fact, that he accidentally hit the "Intruder Alert" button, which sounded a blaring alarm throughout the base. However, within five seconds, guard robots barged into the control room and fired stun shots at the "intruder"._

_Eggman just barely dove out of the path of the shot, only to have it hit his robotic agent behind him. The doctor looked up to see its lights shut off in its eyes before stiffening and collapsing to the hard ground with a crash._

_Eggman turned around to glare at his mechanical minions. "You fools!" he cried. "Now it will take at least six hours to reboot him! What were you thinking?"_

_The lead guard answered. "We were alerted—"_

_"I know why you came!" he shouted. "Now be gone! Return to your post; there's no danger here."_

_The robots showed obvious confusion as they turned and marched back out into the hall. When they had all gone, Eggman reached over to the console and pressed the button to slide the door shut again._

_This was not what he had planned for. He had expected that Knucklehead and Batgirl would have at least stayed together for a few years, but even he must have had high hopes for them. Not that he particularly cared about their pathetic romantic lives, but he was hoping for them to…consummate their relationship at least._

_It would have been better had they made a child together; it could have saved him a very long time on his next great plan. Now he may have to wait over a year. No matter. As long as he stayed out of the public eye, he could spend more time perfecting his project. Those idiots from the government would never find him, so he was not pressed for time. It would all come to fruition soon. He would finally be able to power his armies with a source of strength never achieved by man. It was only a matter of time._

* * *

_Knuckles sat silently on the couch in his living room. His eyes closed, he let his mind lose itself deep in thought. He could hear nothing but his own breathing, and he felt nothing but his own heart beating inside his chest. But he could see it all._

_It had been six months since that fateful day. The worst day of his life. The day where he was betrayed by the woman he loved, the day he was betrayed by one of his best friends, and the night where he dared to let his emotions take over and kiss Tikal. He hadn't meant to; he wasn't even sure why he did it at the time. He knew he didn't love her, that he couldn't love her. They were bound by a common history. It almost felt like incest to want to love Tikal. And he knew she would never see him that way, so there was no point in pursuing his instinct. He needed to drop it and move on._

_So why couldn't he? If he wasn't supposed to love Tikal, why did his heart beat in his throat whenever he thought of her now? Was it because of what he did that night and him feeling guilty for it? Why couldn't he keep still if he heard her name, in thought or out loud? Why did he feel like he could never get close to her again without collapsing or doing something he knew he would regret? Was all of this because he kissed her one night half a year ago?_

_He hadn't seen her much since then. He hadn't seen anyone else since then, in fact. Knuckles fulfilled Tikal's prediction that he would lock himself up on Angel Island, keeping out of sight of the rest of the world. It was the only way he could begin to deal with what had happened. He didn't want to see anyone, and he made that clear to Tikal, who still braved his stubborn manner by coming to visit once in a while. She had seemed to push that night out of her mind almost completely, never making any reference to it. Even if they sat in silence, Tikal never showed the uneasiness Knuckles exhibited whenever they were together._

_Every time she came over, he told her sternly to go home. He did his best to not sound threatening, but she never listened to him. There were times when he shouted at her to leave, or else he would get really upset. And still she stayed. Tikal seemed even more stubborn than Knuckles in this matter, even if she only came by two or three times a month. She let him keep his space and his time for the most part, but she wouldn't leave him alone. He never got violent, although there were times when he promised such anger._

_But he could never bring himself to physically harm her. And deep in his heart, he knew why. And maybe Tikal did too. But that didn't stop her from carrying on as casually as she could muster. She would never pretend things were okay, but she would never let things get worse if she could help it. Even if it meant sitting in silence with him as he stared coldly at the ground. She wasn't giving up on him. Even though he made it clear to her that she should and that he wanted her to._

_Knuckles opened his eyes and looked over at the door. It was closed and locked, as he wanted it. Even in daylight, he locked his door when he wasn't out walking. He still went out every day and exercised. If he was going to keep himself on the island, he wasn't just going to sit inside and be miserable. He could go out and be a little less miserable._

_Knuckles was expecting Tikal to stop by today. She hadn't been by in over a week. Knuckles had to admit that his house and, indeed, his life seemed less empty and miserable whenever she came by. Even if he couldn't love her, he could still appreciate her company … just as long as he didn't look desperate._

_Then, as if by telekinesis, there came a knock on Knuckles' door._

_"Knuckles!" called Tikal. "Open up!"_

_Knuckles sighed. He had experience trying to get her to go away before even coming in, but she would always stay until he would give in. And then he would tell her face-to-face to go away. But today he felt like having her come in._

_"Knuckles!"_

_"I'm coming," he grunted. He slowly got up and walked over to the door. He turned the lock and opened the door casually, but stopped dead when he saw who was there._

_Standing right next to Tikal was Sonic. In his shock, Knuckles did notice that the hedgehog hadn't changed much in six months. But Knuckles was more concerned about how Sonic was feeling, and how he might act. They hadn't seen or heard from each other since that night at the bar, and Knuckles wasn't sure what to say to him._

_"Knuckles," said Tikal, reminding the echidna that she was there. "I think you and Sonic need to talk."_

_Knuckles didn't move anything but his mouth. "Yeah," he said blankly. He struggled merely to say "Come in" as Sonic and Tikal walked through the door and into the living room._

_Once in the room, Knuckles went for the chair and left the couch open for his guests, trying to keep as distant as he could from Sonic for now. Knuckles almost felt dizzy seeing Sonic again, and he didn't know how to cope with it._

_For a long moment, the three of them sat there in cold silence. Knuckles wasn't looking either one in the eye, focusing on the dark walls or the floor. Tikal seemed to look back and forth between Sonic and Knuckles, apparently trying to prod either one of them to speak first. Sonic, meanwhile, sat there on the couch and kicked his feet while looking down at the floor. Finally, Tikal broke the awkward silence._

_"Knuckles, I'm going to go into the kitchen to get some snacks. Do you want anything?"_

_"No," he said flatly, not even glancing her way. "Thanks."_

_"Sonic?" she turned to the hedgehog._

_"I'm fine," he replied._

_Tikal shrugged before getting up and walking over to the kitchen, leaving Sonic and Knuckles to look at anything but each other._

_Knuckles tried to focus on the sounds of Tikal going through his cabinets and fridge in order to keep his mind on something, while Sonic kept on kicking his feet as they dangled off the edge of the couch. For half a minute, the two sat in silence. Finally, Knuckles couldn't handle it any longer and broke it._

_"So, any luck with catching Eggman?"_

_Sonic seemed a bit startled that Knuckles spoke up, but he took the opportunity to reply. "No," he said, looking over at the echidna. "We haven't done much to look for him, but he hasn't made any more appearances since that one time those months ago."_

_"Oh," came Knuckles' flat reply._

_Sonic seemed to struggle with what he was about to say, but eventually it came out. "Ya know, Knuckles, we could always use another friend to help us find him."_

_Knuckles looked down. "I don't think you need me," he replied._

_Sonic blinked, taken back a little. "We need all the help we can get Knuckles. We need your help."_

_"I'm sorry," Knuckles said to the floor. "But I can't."_

_"Why?"_

_Knuckles looked up at Sonic as he went on. "Do you think that we've all forgotten about you or something? Do you think we stopped caring about you? You think we're better off without you?"_

_Knuckles cleared his throat. "I've come to accept how I have to go my own way, now and for the rest of my life. If there's anything I've learned from being around all of you, it's that I have a lot to lose. I went through a lot; some of it I never want to go through again. And I've made my own decision. Our paths weren't meant to cross."_

_"But they did," Sonic insisted. "And you're lying if you're saying it wasn't all worth it. When I first met you, I got a glimpse of your life before you met all of us, and from that I learned that your life was pretty cold. You hate to admit it, but you know you've been happier with us."_

_Knuckles looked Sonic in the eye and said sternly, "I made my decision. If you came here to drag me back to Rouge, then you wasted your time. I'm done with her, and I've moved on from all of you. My life and my destiny are here. I know what I have to do."_

_Sonic could only shake his head. "You're making a mistake you know you'll regret. But if you're gonna ignore me, than I have wasted my time. I really thought that maybe, just maybe you had some time to think about all this over the past few months. I really thought that time could heal some wounds that we'd all like to see vanish. But I guess I'm the idiot then, huh?"_

_Sonic had gotten up off the couch and walked to the door. "I'll see ya later Tikal!" he called into the kitchen as he put his hand on the doorknob._

_"Wait!"_

_Tikal came running out. "Where are you going?"_

_Sonic sighed. "Knuckles has made up his mind." They both looked over at the echidna, who sat in the chair looking the other way. "He wants no part of us, so I'm not gonna force him to come back. I'll see you around," he said to her as he opened the door._

_But just as he did, his phone went off. He reached down for it and opened it. It was Rouge._

_"Hey what's up?" he said into the phone._

_Her voice came through heavy breaths. "Sonic, I'm…ow…I'm going into labor…I…ohh…already called the…hospital…"_

_"Oh my God," he said. "How could I have been so stupid, I knew you were expecting and I left you there by yourself...Don't worry, I'll be right over." He then hung up the phone._

_"What's wrong?" asked Tikal, looking worried. Knuckles didn't acknowledge Sonic._

_Sonic was actually about to answer Tikal before she put her hand up to stop him. "Wait," she said suddenly, loud enough for Knuckles to hear her. "Did I hear the Master Emerald mentioned over the phone?"_

_Upon hearing those words himself, Knuckles twitched and turned to look at them. "What?"_

_Tikal gave Sonic a quick wink with the eye Knuckles couldn't see, and Sonic knew what she was trying to do. "Yeah," he said convincingly. "It sounds like someone has the Master Emerald!"_

_"Where?" Knuckles demanded, getting up from his chair and walking over to them, looking genuinely worried._

_"It sounds like the thief is making their way through Central City right now," Sonic lied. "If we can get there in time, we might be able to stop them before they get away into the wild."_

_"How could have I been so stupid?" Knuckles cursed himself. "I left the Emerald by itself at the altar…Whatever, I'm gone."_

_With that, he sped out of his house and down the path to the edge of the island before either Sonic or Tikal could say anything._

_Once Knuckles was out of earshot, Sonic turned to Tikal. "Are you sure about doing this? Rouge may not want him there when the baby's born, and he's gonna be fuming when he finds out."_

_"Knuckles needs to be there," Tikal insisted. "He needs to finally get over all this, and what better way than confronting it head on?"_

_Sonic was still hesitant. "Well, whatever you say. So are you gonna follow him then and guide him to the hospital? I'm gonna call Tails and tell him to take Rouge to the hospital and I'll just meet up with you guys there."_

_"What about Shadow and Amy? Are they still on vacation?"_

_"Yeah," Sonic said. "I would have thought they'd be back by now…Oh well, so I'll meet you at the hospital?"_

_"Yeah," replied Tikal before Sonic nodded and sped off. Tikal herself turned and ran after Knuckles, determined to see him through this._

* * *

_"Okay Sonic, we'll be right over," Tails said quickly into his phone before closing it. He turned to Cream, who was standing next to him in his living room. "Rouge is going into labor and Sonic's out. We have to get over to Rouge's place quick and take her to the hospital."_

_"Oh, the baby's coming!" Cream squealed in delight. "I can't wait to see it. Let's go!"_

_With that, Tails followed Cream out the door and to Tails' car. But before they could open their doors, they heard a familiar voice shout from half a block down the street. "Tails!"_

_Tails and Cream turned toward the voice to find Amy with Shadow running towards them at top speed. "Tails, wait!" Amy called again._

_Once they had caught up to them, Shadow spoke up. "We have something you guys might want to know. Where is everybody?"_

_"Tell us on the way to Rouge's," Tails said urgently. "She's going into labor right now and we're on our way to her place to take her to the hospital."_

_Once Tails told them this, Shadow felt like a stone had just plummeted into his stomach. Amy looked over at him and saw the discomfort on his face. "C'mon Shadow," she said, knowing what he was thinking. "We don't have time for this. We have to go now."_

_"Right," the hedgehog said, shaking his head clear of those thoughts. "Let's go."_

_The four of them got in the car and sped off toward Rouge's apartment. It was a few miles away, so Shadow and Amy had a chance to briefly explain what they had discovered._

_"So we were in Africa on our vacation," Amy began. "When suddenly we saw Eggman sneaking around a village we were visiting in…was it Libya? Or maybe it was Egypt? Wait, were we in Nigeria?"_

_"Amy!" shouted Tails from the driver's seat. "What happened with Eggman?"_

_"We followed him out of town," said Shadow from behind Tails. "He had some sort of disguise on, a different outfit and a hat, but we could tell it was him; you can't miss that egg-shaped body even in a crowd. Anyway, he made his way to some little garage or something on the outskirts and picked up a hovercraft that he must have been keeping there. We followed him out into the desert, and he never looked back, so he didn't know we were following him. But he stopped at a random spot out in the dunes, and we were just about to approach him when a sandstorm swept through and blinded us. We shielded our eyes, but when we opened them after the storm had passed, Eggman was gone. Nowhere to be seen for miles."_

_Tails made a right turn onto Rouge's street. "It sounds like Eggman's got a base somewhere in the desert," he said. "I wonder what he's up to."_

_"Well didn't he say that he was working on his best weapon ever back when he was first on the news that night?" asked Amy._

_"Yeah, something like that," said Tails. He pulled up the along the curb and put it in "park". "Shadow, you wanna come in with me and help me get Rouge out here?"_

_Shadow bit his lip. He wasn't sure how we was gonna handle all this; he wasn't sure how to act when his child would come into this world, but he knew he would have to face it now. There was no backing away from it anymore. "Yeah, let's go," he said as he opened the door and sprinted around the car to the front door._

_He and Tails entered the building and quickly made their way up to Rouge's apartment. Tails unlocked the door with his key and burst through the door to see Rouge laying there on her couch, clutching at her bulging stomach. She was sweating profusely and panting in between groans._

_"Rouge, we're here to take you to the hospital," said Tails. "C'mon, we'll take you out to the car." Rouge did acknowledge them through a weak smile as Tails and Shadow gently hoisted her to her feet. With her arms over their shoulders, Rouge was able to walk lightly as Tails and Shadow walked her out the door. Tails turned around to lock it before joining with them again and together they walked back to the elevator and out the front door in the lobby._

_Amy had gotten out of the car and opened the door on her side. With her help, Tails and Shadow eased Rouge into the back of the car. Once she was in, Shadow and Amy got back in their seats, and Tails opened his door before a sudden explosion sounded off by the other end of the street. Startled, he looked behind him and followed a trail of smoke to a cannon on a hovercraft. Tails could only groan when he saw Eggman cursing his machine after it failed to get a direct hit._

_"You got lucky that time, fox boy, but I'm not done yet," he said, smiling his all-too-familiar evil grin. He prepared a second shot as Tails slid quickly into the car again and sped off, his tires screeching from the sudden burst of acceleration._

_The second missile exploded behind the car, but nothing was felt by those inside it. "Great," said Rouge in a raspy, exhausted voice. "The day I…ow, go into labor, that…ooh, egghead goes crazy trying to…ah, kill us."_

_They could hear the hum of his hovercraft pursuing them through the city streets, but Tails tried to ignore it as he weaved in and out of traffic trying like mad to get to the hospital fast enough._

_"He must have followed us," Shadow suggested, acknowledging himself and Amy. "So I guess he did know we were following him in Africa."_

_Amy was busy trying to coax Rouge through her labor, despite never having gone through it herself. Cream tried to keep a watchful eye in the rearview mirror for Eggman, who was swerving his craft to try and get a better aim of their car. "He must really be after you guys," she said worriedly._

_"Maybe you guys stumbled on his base without even knowing it," Tails suggested. "It wouldn't be a secret anymore. Maybe he thinks, we're trying to alert the military or something."_

_Shadow nodded, not really sure what to think. Everything was happening so fast. First his vacation was interrupted by Eggman, so they went home to tell everyone, only to find out Rouge was in labor, but Eggman must have followed them back here, and now he was chasing after them on their way to the hospital to help bring his child into the world. It was all more than a little overwhelming._

* * *

_"Knuckles!" shouted Tikal as she rushed after him into the city. Knuckles slowed down and turned around to see her running after him. "I just got a call from Sonic, and he said the thief is making their way to the hospital! If we hurry we can still catch them!"_

_Tikal could see Knuckles nod in acknowledgement before he turned around again and ran off into the city. But Tikal had caught up in a few moments. Before long, she got a few steps ahead of him, as he wasn't exactly sure where he was going, so he let her lead the way. It wasn't until they turned a corner that the echidnas heard a loud explosion._

_Tikal slowed down to get closer to Knuckles. "What was that?" she asked, knowing Knuckles probably had no clue._

"_Probably the thief," Knuckles mentioned._

_Tikal squinted toward the direction of the explosion, which, coincidentally, was the direction they were running. She couldn't see anything like a plane in the sky, so they kept running, eager to get to the hospital._

_Suddenly, out of the corner of their eye, they spotted a blue blur dash out of a street on their right. "Sonic!" Tikal called out. They saw Sonic turn his head and wave once at them when he saw them, and Knuckles and Tikal joined him as they all ran to the hospital._

_They were coming on the end of their street when they heard another explosion, this one sounding almost like it was within a block of where they were. Upon approaching the end of the street, they could make out a distinctive blue car zipping through traffic with its blinkers on. Sonic and Tikal knew immediately who it was, and even Knuckles noticed something familiar. "Is that Tails' car?" he asked._

_Before he could be answered, another bomb went off just next to them. The three of them jumped away as it went off, and they caught a glimpse of their attacker in mid-air. Eggman's hovercraft passed them over, however, as it flew over the street in pursuit of Tails' car. Sonic, Knuckles, and Tikal got up and ran after it._

_"So, Eggman's got my Emerald, huh?" Knuckles mused aloud. "Won't he ever learn?"_

_If the situation wasn't so dire, Sonic and Tikal would have exchanged looks of stifled laughter. But they were more worried than Knuckles was. They knew the Emerald was safe back at Angel Island. But why was Eggman here in the city? And why was he chasing Tails and the others in his car?_

_They wasted no time as they sprinted down the sidewalk after Tails' car and Eggman's craft. Eggman had sort of halted his firing of missiles at the car for fear of destroying other cars and getting into any more trouble than he already was. He must have felt it was better to let them get to their destination and then destroy them there._

* * *

_"We're just about there," Tails told everyone as he made one last turn. They could see the hospital from a block away. Eggman had also turned to follow them, but Cream caught something else in the mirror._

_"Is that…it's Sonic!" she shouted._

_Shadow and Amy turned around to get a look, and they saw more than just Sonic running along the road. They saw Tikal and, "Is that Knuckles?" Amy asked aloud._

_Even in her incredible pain, Rouge jolted at the sound of the echidna's name. She was too weak to look over her shoulder or even repeat his name, so she tried to ignore it and concentrate on quelling her pain._

_Shadow shot Amy a look. "What?" she said defensively. Shadow could only roll his eyes. He wasn't about to get in an argument with his girlfriend now._

_"We're here!" said Tails as he pulled into the parking garage of the hospital on the corner. He sped over to an open slot along the left and swerved into it as fast as he could. Quickly, he opened his door as the others did theirs, and Shadow helped Rouge get out of the car. They all ran towards the entrance to the garage before an explosion in front of them reminded them that Eggman was still out there._

_"You pathetic fools can't hide in there forever!" he shouted. "You will not come out alive!" He fired another missile for intimidation._

_Rouge groaned in pain as she was held up by Shadow and Amy. "What are we gonna do?" asked Cream._

_Before Tails could answer, he was interrupted by the sound of a loud clunk. They looked over at the entrance again and saw Knuckles and Tikal standing there looking up. It was then that Sonic landed on his feet, coming down from a hit on Eggman's hovercraft._

_"Go!" shouted Sonic. "I'll distract him while you get Rouge in there!"_

_It was then that Knuckles jolted, and he looked inside the garage to find Rouge, his ex-girlfriend, held up by Shadow and Amy, squirming her face in agony. But she opened her eyes long enough to see Knuckles, her ex-boyfriend, standing there staring at her, not knowing what to say. They locked eyes for what seemed like hours, each surprised to find that the other was still in their life. They could say nothing._

_While Knuckles and Rouge stared each other down, Tails spoke up. "Wait, Sonic!" he shouted. "Can you just distract him long enough so the others can get in? I can take care of him with my machine!"_

_"Wait," said Shadow from under Rouge's arm. "Your car can transform? Why didn't you use that instead of running from Eggman?"_

_"Because Rouge needed to get here as fast as possible," Tails reminded him. "Now take Rouge into the emergency room. I'll take care of Eggman."_

_"Be careful Tails," said Cream. She reached over and gave him a hug. When she backed away, Tails was beat red._

_"Thanks Cream," he said sheepishly. "But I'll be okay. It's not like I'm gonna be in serious danger or anything. I'll make it."_

_"You never know," said Cream. "Good luck."_

_"Okay, are you guys gonna go or what?" said Sonic before jumping up again at Eggman._

_The others hustled out of the garage to the sidewalk. They joined with Knuckles and Tikal, who followed them to the hospital lobby doors. They found the emergency room and alerted the staff promptly. Soon enough, they got Rouge into a wheelchair and took her off to the maternity ward. The rest of them stood in the waiting room, wondering what to do next._

_"I'll go in," said Amy, who was becoming more comfortable in her role as a birthing coach. "Who else is coming in?"_

_"I am," said Sonic as he ran into the waiting room. "Tails has Eggman under control."_

_Amy looked over at Shadow, who was doing his best to avoid her gaze. "Shadow," she said. He couldn't ignore her voice, so he surrendered and acknowledged her._

_"Are you coming?" she asked. "After all, this is your child being born."_

_Shadow gulped while Knuckles involuntarily clenched his fist. Tikal noticed Knuckles and gently grabbed his hand._

_"Go ahead Shadow," said Knuckles. "After all, it is your child," he repeated almost a little too darkly._

_"It should be yours," Shadow replied. "I didn't ask for this, and as far as I'm concerned, it's not mine."_

_Amy sighed, frustrated. "Whatever, me and Sonic are going in. Anyone else can follow us if they want."_

_Sonic and Amy turned and walked down the hall. Once they had turned the corner, Cream spoke up._

_"I'm going too," she said. "Shadow, please come with me."_

_Shadow looked as uncomfortable as ever at the request. But he decided he couldn't avoid this, so he joined Cream and together they walked down the hall and followed the way Sonic and Amy had gone. That left Knuckles and Tikal alone in the waiting room._

_"So this was why you brought me here, huh?" Knuckles said to Tikal. "So where's the thief?"_

_"Look, I'm sorry I had to trick you," she said, knowing just how mad he got whenever he was duped. "But I knew that deep down inside of you somewhere, you wanted to be here. I know you haven't lost all hope."_

_"I should really just walk out that door right now and go back to the island," he replied. "Or else the Emerald could really get stolen by someone."_

_"No," said Tikal. "You're going to go to that room and be with everyone when Rouge's baby comes into this world. You're here already anyway, and everyone else is going in. Come on."_

_She tugged at his hand, but he wouldn't budge. "I'm not putting myself through that again. I'm just gonna be reminded of everything that I've tried to forget. I won't do it. Besides, Rouge doesn't want me in there."_

_"How do you know that?"_

_"Tikal, I broke up with her," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Or did you forget what happened?"_

_"I know you hurt her pretty bad," Tikal said. "But I don't think either of you can deny that there isn't still something there."_

_"How many times do I have to tell you this? Rouge and I are over. We can never be together after what happened. After all that she did."_

_"What about what you did?"_

_"What I did was save myself from being miserable for the rest of my life. There was no way I could grow old being forever reminded of my former fiancée's betrayal."_

_"No, what you did was give up to quickly. You could have been a father and a husband, but you decided to—"_

_"Don't remind me!" he shouted. "I know what 'could have been'. I had dreams. But they were shattered. So I cut my losses. And I haven't looked back."_

_"You're just afraid," she said. "You're afraid of getting hurt again."_

_"I'm not afraid of anything," he told her._

_"Then prove it. Prove that you can handle being there for your ex-girlfriend. Prove that you can handle being with your friends for a few hours. Prove it to me."_

_Knuckles seemed to glare at her for a long moment. But in the end, his pride took over. "Fine," he grunted. And with that, he walked down the hall with Tikal, never looking back._


	7. Deja Vu

**Chapter 7: Déjà Vu**

"Rouge?" Sonic called as he entered the apartment. He had just gotten home from the travel agency, and he was thinking about taking Rouge and Cuticla out for the night. They hadn't been able to do much as a…well, as a family in a while. Sonic still wasn't sure if using that word was the right thing to say, but he lived with them, and certainly loved them like family. And maybe one day, they would become a family.

He closed the door behind him and was surprised to see the living room vacant. He knew Rouge was off work today; they tried to adjust their schedules so that at least one of them could stay home with the baby. Sonic placed his suitcase beside the couch and looked around the room.

"Rouge?" he called out again. "She wouldn't have left the baby alone like this," he said to himself. "Where could she have gone?"

In his observation of the living room, his eye caught a large mark on the wall near the door to the nursery. He walked over to examine it, not remembering it ever having been there before. Rouge fussed about these kind of things, much to Sonic's dismay, as he was often forced to help out in cleaning and, what seemed to him, outright sterilizing the apartment. Sonic was never much one for tidiness.

He had to bend down to get a better look, and when he rubbed his finger on it, he figured it to be a skid mark, like from someone's shoe.

Sonic couldn't remember ever being so frustrated at something that he may have kicked at the wall, and Rouge wouldn't so something like that.

It was then that he looked down and noticed something else out of the ordinary in their apartment—a rug was disheveled and crooked underneath his feet. Had he been living on his own, he would have thought nothing of it, but since he was living with Rouge, he knew something wasn't right.

He reached for his cell phone and instinctively dialed up Rouge. His foot began tapping nervously as the phone continued to ring. Finally, it ceased, but only to play her voicemail. Sonic wanted to try again, but leaving a message was better than nothing.

"Hey, it's me," he began. "I just got home from work and you're not here. I don't know if you went out or something, but you left your daughter here by herself. And now I'm kinda worried because you're not picking up, so call me—"

Sonic was startled by a beep from his phone. He pulled it away quickly and, after seeing what displayed on the screen, part of him breathed a sigh of relief. Returning the phone to his ear, he said, "I'm getting a call from Tikal now, so maybe she knows something. But call me when you get this so I know you're safe. Love you. Bye."

After hanging up, Sonic answered the call from Tikal. "Hey," he said.

"Sonic!" Tikal seemed to pant into the phone. "Thank God you're there! They took Knuckles!"

Sonic stopped breathing. "W-what?"

"Eggman's robots came to Angel Island and abducted him! They separated us in a fight, and one of them caught Knuckles with their teleporter. I have no idea where they took him. I hate to ask, but could you and Rouge maybe come over here and maybe we can try to find him?"

Sonic didn't hear the last half of what Tikal said. His mind was already reeling at that point. Now he knew where Rouge was. And as soon as he came to that realization, a fire began to burn in his throat. Within seconds, it had consumed him, and before Tikal could speak again, Sonic pulled the phone from his head and yelled out louder than he ever remembered he could. In his anger and emotion, he threw his phone like a rocket at a portrait of himself hanging on the wall. The glass cracked before the entire frame came crashing to the wood floor below.

Instantly, cries from the nursery sounded, but Sonic lost them in his own fuming. How could he have let this happen? He knew Eggman was still gunning for all of them, even after….Sonic choked on his anger before tears welled in his eyes. Overcome, he collapsed to his knees in front of the destroyed picture on the floor. He couldn't hold it any longer. He released everything that he had tried to bottle up for almost a year now. He didn't care who heard him or not. All he wanted to do was weep.

But in between his own sobs, he began to hear another wailing. It was higher-pitched than his own, but didn't have quite the volume. It didn't take him long, even in his own clouded judgment, to realize that he had awoken Cuticla. But that was what he needed to hear. As if it made him forget everything that had just happened, as if it gave him back the strength he thought he lost, Sonic rose from his knees and walked over to the nursery door. He opened it and was relieved to see Cuticla, alive and healthy, lying in her crib, wailing as if someone had ripped one of her large fingernails right off her delicate finger.

Sonic walked over to the crib and reached down to pick up the baby. Once he had Cuticla in his arms, everything became calm for him. He let himself soothe the baby's crying by gently rocking her in his arms for a minute.

But Cuticla was not going back to sleep now. Instead, she lay there, looking up at Sonic as only an infant can do, completely innocent and ignorant of all that happened in the last few hours.

"I know your upset Cuticla," whispered Sonic. He let his old, upbeat attitude show itself in front of the baby. "I am too. But you know what? We're gonna find your mommy. And we'll find your daddy, too. We're gonna make everything okay. I promise."

It suddenly hit Sonic that he left Tikal on the phone…or whatever was left of his phone. Carrying Cuticla, he walked out to the living room and reached for the home phone. While Cuticla squirmed in one of his arms, he dialed up Tikal with the other and waited for her to pick up. After a few rings, she answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, Tikal, sorry about that," he said. "I...I kinda lost it and chucked my phone across the room."

"I was gonna say," she replied, sounding very relieved, but not without a hint of worry. "Are you alright now?"

"I'll be fine," he told her. "But you should know that Rouge is gone, too. When you told me Eggman kidnapped Knuckles, it made sense that he would come here and kidnap Rouge, too."

"But…why would he do this?" she said as if she was about to start crying herself. "What does he want with Knuckles and Rouge?"

"I don't know," said Sonic, his voice low. "But I won't let him hurt anymore of my friends." He swallowed hard. "I…owe it to Tails and Cream. Eggman _will_ pay."

"What are we gonna do?"

"Can you actually come over here? I have Cuticla and I think we'll be a little safer here, no offense."

"None taken. I'll be right over."

With that, Tikal hung up, and Sonic put the phone back down. As he did so, his eyes got lost in Cuticla as his mind wandered and tried to make sense of everything that had just happened. Rouge had been kidnapped, as had Knuckles, and there was no telling where they were. Now he was, save for Tikal, all alone with Cuticla. Shadow and Amy were still out trying to find Eggman's base, but they had been gone for nearly a month, and no one had heard from them in weeks. And since there was no telling where they were in the world, and since they couldn't go out much with Cuticla in tow, they hadn't been able to try and find them. For the first time in his life, Sonic truly felt all alone in this world.

But looking into the eyes of the baby who was as close a daughter as he could have, Sonic knew there was hope. He could see in Cuticla's eyes the image of Rouge, daring, beautiful, and clever. And Sonic could also see Knuckles, fearless, determined, and fierce. In his heart, he knew they would prevail. They would fight. They would escape. And they would return to their loved ones.

It was then that Cuticla suddenly burst into smile and even gave a playful giggle as she reached her hand up for Sonic's face. Sonic couldn't help himself, and he was able to revive his old smile in return, something he thought he may have lost forever.

"We'll be okay," he said gently, both to Cuticla and himself. "Everything's gonna be okay."

* * *

Knuckles lay on the cold metal floor of his prison chamber. He had no idea how long he had been there, but it certainly felt like days. He could still remember being interrupted with Tikal, and the robots overwhelming him and taking him prisoner. He left Tikal all alone on that big island. He could see her sitting there in the darkness in her own home, praying for his safe return. He could see her sleeping alone, not knowing when or if he would ever be coming home. And it pierced his heart every time he saw her worried face.

As if to drive away the pain and helplessness of it all, Knuckles summoned any strength he had left and slammed his fist into the hard floor. He was too numb to feel any pain from the futile effort. His brain didn't recognize the signals of agony pulsing from his clenched hand. His mind finally must have become immune to it all.

To try to get his mind off Tikal and all that he may never see again, Knuckles began to imagine ways of breaking out of this place. Even though there seemed to be no hope for him and that he had nothing on the outside to fight for, he didn't believe any of it. He wouldn't deny that it was very unlikely he may get out of here, but all it took was that little, almost insignificant likelihood. He would see Tikal again. And once he got out of here, he would go and see Cuticla again. Knuckles couldn't imagine not being there for his daughter. If Tikal and Cuticla were all that Knuckles would have in this world, then he would fight to his last breath to be with them.

Knuckles never wanted it to be this way. If he could go back, he never would have let Rouge go. He would have been more supportive and understanding and not so mistrusting. He would have gladly taken all that he had and not been selfish or too full of pride. He would have overlooked things that never really happened until he helped them happen, like Rouge leaving him for Sonic. If he could have been there, he would have thrown himself in harm's way to save Tails and Cream. He wouldn't have leaned on Tikal and brought her into his mess of a life. He would have happily stayed with Rouge while she carried Shadow's child, only to be thrilled to find out that the paternity test was wrong all along, and that Rouge's baby was his baby. If only he had done all these things, he would have as sane and happy a life as he could ever have imagined, living together with a family he could never find anywhere else.

But the past had come and gone. Knuckles knew he made those decisions, and there were no second chances. He didn't get the opportunity to undo what he did. He had to come to terms with his life and make the absolute best of what he allotted himself. And Knuckles could find some happiness knowing that there were things in life that he would never regret. Maybe if none of this had happened, he never would have learned to love Tikal the way he had, and he would never be as happy around her as he was. And either way that his past could have happened, Cuticla was still his daughter. He could still be a proud father, even if he was not meant to live in harmony with Rouge. Knuckles clung to these thoughts as if he dangled from a cliff, knowing that if he let go of them, he would forever fall into an inescapable darkness.

Suddenly, the lock on Knuckles' chamber door turned, and the echidna sat up and looked at what must have been the door. As it opened slowly, Knuckles prepared himself for Eggman.

"I'm so glad you've grown accustomed to your new living quarters," the doctor said with a sly grin. "But I have more pressing needs for this cell. I'm moving you downstairs to a different one. And don't try any funny stuff on your way down," he warned. "One false move and you will be incinerated. Is that clear?"

"Bite me, you overgrown jackass," Knuckles said, his bloodshot eyes thin as slits and his jaw clenched as hard as iron.

"Get out," Eggman said impatiently. Several robots marched in and surrounded Knuckles before forcing him to start walking out of the cell. "Unless of course, you'd like to spend an eternity in there," Eggman added as Knuckles and the robots passed him.

Knuckles ignored the doctor as he moved down the hall towards the stairs. He took no notice of his surroundings, as they consisted of nothing more than bleak holding cells and storage areas. He must have been in the deepest parts of the base, a place that Eggman most likely rarely ventured to.

"So what am I hear for?" Knuckles asked as they began to walk down the stairs. "What are you gonna do with me?"

"Oh don't worry, knucklehead," replied Eggman. "I'll fill you in on all the details once everything is in place."

Knuckles could only grunt as the group continued to the bottom of the stairs. Once they reached the floor below, they turned around and walked down the hall. Knuckles didn't notice much difference between this floor and the one above, except one of the cells was open, and some robots were loading boxes and machines into the chamber as if it were a vault.

Eggman must have caught Knuckles staring at the open cell. "Yes, I'm using these as storage cells. I'm expanding the base for…well for what I'm going to need you for actually," he laughed. "Be thankful that you actually get one of these; I need all the space I can get for my equipment."

"Funny, I don't feel too privileged," replied Knuckles.

They continued to walk down the hall until, finally, they reached the cell where Knuckles presumed he would spend a while in before being moved again. Eggman walked forward to unlock the cell door. Before opening it, however, he turned around to say to Knuckles, "By the way, I should mention, you'll be sharing this cell."

Knuckles twitched and jumped to a hasty conclusion. "If you have Tikal in there, so help me God, I will rip your limbs right out of your body," he said, staring the doctor down with his teeth clenched.

"Oh, no it's not Tikal," Eggman assured him. "However, it is someone you have a lot to catch up with, I understand."

Eggman turned the knob and threw the door open. Knuckles turned around to see who was there, and when he did, his eyes grew wide as headlights. There, sitting against the wall, was Rouge, looking just as bad as Knuckles, only she had make-up running from her face. She quickly stood up upon seeing them, especially when she saw Knuckles staring back at her.

Eggman laughed evilly. "Well, I'll just leave you two alone for a while," he cackled. "I wouldn't want to ruin the moment! Hahahahaha!"

The robots threw Knuckles into the room and slammed the door shut. Quietly, he got to his feet. There was just enough light in the room where he could see Rouge completely. Knuckles stared at Rouge. Rouge stared at Knuckles. Their hearts wanted to burst out, but their mouths kept them locked inside their body. With so much to say, so much pain between them, so much mistrust, betrayal, and history bleeding from the looks in their eyes as they stared one another down, the chamber's silence was the perfect symbol of what had become of the long, beautiful, and loving relationship between Knuckles the Echidna and Rouge the Bat.


	8. A Bombshell

_**Chapter 8: A Bombshell**_

_Tails managed to zip around the corner of the building to his right, barely dodging a missile fired at him. Eggman wasted no time in pursuing the fox, all the while rapidly firing missiles at him. Tails did all he could to lure Eggman away from the hospital as well as making sure he did not lead the doctor into hitting other buildings. Tails was afraid that his machine couldn't attain the altitude above the tallest skyscrapers, so he had to stay as high as he was._

_But he knew he couldn't run from Eggman forever, which is why every now and then he would turn around and fly at Eggman and try to shoot him down before speeding by the distracted doctor in a continued attempt to escape. He did manage a few hits on him, but Eggman's machine was sturdy and absorbed the missiles pretty well. Of course, he couldn't move as quickly as Tails, which actually presented somewhat of a problem for the fox. Since his main goal was to lure the doctor away from the hospital, Tails had to constantly keep his speed in check so that he would be close enough for Eggman to follow but just out of his reach._

_"You won't escape me this time, you stupid little fox!" Tails heard Eggman shout through the air. Within seconds, Tails picked up heat seeking missiles approaching. At this, he accelerated to full speed, the missiles slowly getting farther and farther behind. He kept it going for a few blocks before easing up on the accelerator and moving to the right of the street, as close to the buildings as he could safely get. Because he was still too fast to turn sharply, he stayed right until he was halfway to the next block, where he began his turn to the left. He managed to get around the corner of the building to the left, and once he was above the street, he approached the right again, preparing to circle his way back to the main street, where Eggman was likely to be approaching._

_Tails kept a close eye on the missiles on his radar, which closed some of the gap with his slowing down to make the turns. But he wanted them to close in on him by the time he got back to the main street so that he could fly at Eggman from behind and just manage to fly around him, while his missiles would not be able to turn so quickly and make a direct hit with their source._

_After a minute of navigating the block, Tails saw Eggman fly in front of him over the main street. Tails was able to make the turn to his left to follow Eggman. The doctor must not have seen all of this coming, because he looked behind him quickly and did a double-take._

_"How did you get back there?" Eggman fumed over the engines of both machines._

_Tails ignored him and flew at the doctor, ready to bring his own missiles upon him. Eggman saw Tails come at him and tried to zip to the right to dodge him, but Tails machine was agile enough to mirror the move with reduced speed. But Tails used his speed to close the gap with Eggman, who knew full well what Tails had behind him. The doctor was scrambling to move faster or turn or duck or fly higher, but his machine was too limited. He hadn't planned for this type of encounter. It was only a matter of time before Tails caught him._

_So Eggman scrambled for something else in his cockpit. But while he fumbled around for it, Tails had caught up with him. Eggman finally found what he was looking for, but it was too __late for his machine. Tails managed to pull up just above Eggman's craft, giving the doctor the perfect opportunity to get the last strike. He tossed his remote detonator upward, and it stuck on to the underside of Tails' machine. Eggman barely had to time to make sure the small green light had activated—indicating the device had safely latched onto the craft—and to activate the escape feature of his cockpit before his own missiles made contact with his machine._

_Tails flew over Eggman just as the doctor's machine exploded. The fox looked down below to make sure Eggman was shot down, only to see his cockpit eject from the craft. Tails could only roll his eyes in frustration, but Eggman now had no choice but to flee. "You'll pay for this!" the doctor yelled out to him before turning the other way and flying out towards the outskirts of the city._

_"Finally," Tails said to himself. "Hopefully that'll be the last of him for a while. Now let's get back to the hospital."_

* * *

Knuckles was out of breath. Standing on a metal beam high above the open pit of lava, he stared across the beam into the eyes of the thief. Likewise, the bat girl was breathing heavily, trying as hard as Knuckles to maintain composure in the face of her opponent.

But neither had lost their energy or frustration. "Stop fooling around, and give me back MY emerald!" they shouted simultaneously. They had had enough of one another.

"What are you babbling about?" shot the bat girl before Knuckles could respond to her ridiculous claim. "You call yourself a hunter, attacking a lady? Shame on you!"

Knuckles couldn't believe this. "What kind of lady goes around stealing gems anyway?"

"Those belong to me!" she shouted, stepping forward to emphasize her point. However, in doing so, her foot came down on the edge of the beam, where she twisted to the left and lost her balance.

"Aaaahhh!" Rouge screamed as her body fell towards the red hot lava below. Expecting the worst, she closed her eyes and prepared for an untimely death. Then suddenly…

Her fall was jerked to a halt. Startled, she looked up to see the echidna dangling from the beam with one hand while holding Rouge's hand in his other, keeping her from falling to her death. "What in the world?" she stammered, unsure of what to say or do. So she let the echidna bring her back up to the beam.

Knuckles slowly pulled the bat girl safely up to the beam. Once she was righted, Knuckles stared at her. He looked into her eyes, and she looked back. For what seemed like several minutes, Knuckles could not tear his gaze out of her eyes. There was something inside them that he couldn't explain, something he had never seen before. Something he had never felt before.

Knuckles hadn't realized that he was still holding her hand. But before he could pull away, the bat girl ripped her hand away herself. "Keep your hands to yourself!" she scolded. "Don't touch me."

For some reason, Knuckles was a little stung by the reaction. So he fired back. "Is that how you say thanks to someone who just saved your life?"

The bat girl scoffed at the remark. "Saving my life? Don't think I owe you one. You just wanted to hold my hand, didn't you?" Smirking, she now looked as if she had just triumphed over him. "That's why you saved me. You're such a creep."

Now Knuckles was embarrassed, but he refused to let it show. Instead, he shook his head in bewilderment at her. "This isn't a joke, you know. Think what you want, bat girl. I was saving the Master Emerald."

But the bat girl didn't seem to buy it. "Whatever you say, it sounds crazy," she said turning away from his gaze. Suddenly, she threw several shards of green gems out in front of her, never once looking at Knuckles.

Knuckles was certainly surprised to see shards of the Master Emerald fall in between the two. "Wha…?"

Rouge crossed her arms and looked down as if pouting. "Fine, then just take them," she said, conceding. "They stink like echidnas do."

"If that's what you thought, you should've given me them in the first place," he replied, busy sweeping all the shards together.

Within moments, Knuckles had managed to reassemble the pieces of the Master Emerald. The gem gave off a bright green flash once it had become whole again. Knuckles breathed a sigh of relief.

"Finally!" he said. He felt the jewel in his hands, thankful to have it back in one piece and under his careful eyes again. But he did not forget who was still standing there with him, so he looked up from the emerald to at least acknowledge the bat girl.

Shocked, the bat girl looked away when Knuckles tried to meet her gaze again. "What?" she said defensively.

Knuckles himself looked away as he tried to let out some sort of apology. But he was surprised how easy it really did come out. "I'm sorry…if I hurt you."

With that, Knuckles quickly grabbed the emerald and ran, determined to meet up with the others again so they could find Eggman and stop him. But as he sped away, an image of the bat girl lingered in his mind. She stood there on the beam, eyes closed and facing the floor with her arms crossed. He was stunned that she had actually given him the emerald like that. Maybe there was some good to that thief after all. Still, there was something about her that would not leave Knuckles' mind. Was it her stubborn attitude? Her determination? Her daring? Knuckles was puzzled as to why he couldn't stop thinking about her. Suddenly, he felt a physical jerk on his body, and a voice called out to him.

"Knuckles…" came the voice. It sounded so distant. Could it be the bat girl? How did she know his name? His heart began beating rapidly and his mind began creating scenes of the bat girl calling him back to apologize to him and tell him how she really felt about him. What did that mean? Why was he having these fantasies?

Knuckles finally gave in and turned around toward the bat girl. But when he did, he saw only another familiar face.

_Tikal was standing outside the elevator in the hall. "Knuckles are you coming?" she asked._

_Knuckles blinked himself back to the present. He was standing in an open elevator inside the hospital in Central City. Quickly coming to his senses, he rushed out the closing elevator._

_"Are you all right?" asked Tikal as Knuckles joined her in walking down to the bat gi…Rouge's room._

_Knuckles was blinking as though he had just woken up. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine."_

_He began to think about what had really dragged him to this hospital. He knew what was going to happen and how crushed he would be when he would see the baby born to Rouge. The baby that would not be his. That baby, to him, was like the death of what could have been between him and Rouge. If Rouge wanted to keep it, then she was willing to move on without him, so he would do the same without her._

_Still, he couldn't ignore a strange feeling in his gut. Why exactly did he drag himself here if he knew what was coming would be like a stab into his stomach? He knew Tikal was determined to have him be here, but he really could resist her will if he wanted to. His instincts brought him here, so he would have to brave whatever storm was in that room._

_Knuckles and Tikal approached the door to Rouge's room slowly. Tikal knocked softly before she walked in, Knuckles slowly filing in behind her. He met the stares of everybody sitting around the bed and in the corners. Shadow sat near Cream, who was politely keeping her distance. Amy stood over Rouge's bed, offering her help when she felt it was needed, and Sonic sat beside Rouge's bed, monitoring her and trying to keep her spirits up. But Sonic stopped when Knuckles walked in, because all Rouge could do was stare at the echidna in a strange combination of disbelief, uneasiness, and fatigue. Even if she was going through labor, she would not let her guard down. Not to anyone._

_"Okay, I can't have all of you in here," said the doctor impatiently. "Some of you are going to need to go out into the hallway and wait there. Rouge doesn't need this large crowd of people hovering over her."_

_At this, Shadow did not hesitate to get up from his chair and walk towards the door. Amy, in an effort to stop him from leaving so soon, stepped away from Rouge's bed and followed him out the door and down the hall. Cream decided that she didn't need to crowd the room, so she walked out quietly after Shadow and Amy. Knuckles was about to turn around and follow them when Tikal grabbed his arm._

_"Knuckles, why don't you stay here," Tikal said with a look in her eyes that made Knuckles groan a little. "I was going to get a snack from the vending machines down the hall. Did you want anything?"_

_"No, Tikal, I'm fine, thanks," replied the echidna with his teeth clenched._

_Tikal smiled at him before turning toward the door. Once she had left, it was just Knuckles, Sonic, the doctor, and Rouge. Knuckles felt more uncomfortable than being under all the bright lights of Casinopolis. He went to go sit down and try to relax himself._

_Sonic continued to stand over Rouge's bed and held her hand in his as if he was willing her through her labor. Rouge's doctor stood looking at the various monitors in the room to make sure all of the vitals were in good condition. He was about to turn to Rouge when a nurse rushed inside._

_"Doctor, we need you down in the ER," she said, panting. "There are some patients who suffered injuries from Doctor Robotnik's attack."_

_"Can't you see I'm busy here with a patient?" he retorted. "She's in the middle of labor!"_

_"I know, but we're shorthanded and some of the patients are in critical condition," the nurse replied urgently. "Her friends should be able to monitor her for now until we're all settled downstairs. We need you doctor."_

_Rouge's doctor looked at his patient, and then looked to Sonic and Knuckles. He sighed. "Will you two be alright here with her?"_

_"You mean you're going to leave her here?"_

_Sonic spun around to see Knuckles on his feet, an astonished look on his face. Rouge heard Knuckles also and managed to turn her head towards him to look at him. It was then that Knuckles realized what he was doing and calmed himself down again, wondering what just came over him._

_"I'm sorry, but I have to," said the doctor. "Rouge should be fine, but if something happens, you come get me. Understand?"_

_Sonic nodded, while Knuckles sat down in his chair and looked away. The doctor took it that Knuckles had heard him, so he turned and hurried with the nurse out the door, leaving Rouge in the care and attention of her best friend and her ex-boyfriend._

_Sonic grabbed a chair and slid it to the side of the bed. "How ya doing?" he asked the soon-to-be mother._

_Rouge was still doing her breathing exercises. "I'm alright," she said while exhaling._

_The three of them sat there for a few minutes in the same positions. Sonic looked at Rouge, Rouge looked down at her bulging stomach, and Knuckles looked at the floor. But Knuckles could also hear Rouge breathing and moaning softly. And he couldn't help but cringe at the sound of her voice in pain. To focus his attention on anything else, he looked around the room and studied the potted plants or random small paintings on the wall. He would not let himself be swallowed up by her voice anymore._

_But yet it would not stop calling out to him. He began to shiver, although he was far from cold. In fact, he was sweating as if he were laying beneath a white hot light, and just the image of that made him shift uneasily. Left alone here with Rouge and Sonic while Rouge was in labor was the last place Knuckles wanted to be. He knew that because, deep down inside him, there was a fire that his cold heart could not put out. Being here only added fuel to the fire. And he had had enough of being burned._

_Knuckles suddenly rose from his chair, ready to run out the door, down the hall to the elevator and out of the hospital, never once looking back until he returned to Angel Island. But the moment he stood up, a cry came from Rouge's bed._

_"Aaahhh!" shouted Rouge. "This is it!...Sonic…the baby's coming…. I can…feel it. Hurry, go get…the doctor. It's…it's coming."_

_Sonic didn't need to hear her twice. He was out of the room faster than the speed of sound on his way down to the ground floor to get Rouge's doctor. That left Knuckles alone with Rouge in labor. And Knuckles knew, despite whatever Rouge had done to him, no matter how much she betrayed him, however bad it hurt knowing that whatever came out of Rouge would not be his child, that he could not leave her alone. Not now. So he stayed._

_Knuckles gulped almost loud enough to be heard over Rouge's cries of pain. He braced himself for anything._

_Rouge, however, had no energy to feel as uncomfortable. She looked Knuckles in the eyes and held her gaze, even without wincing from her labor pains. She let out a big breath. "Knuckles," she panted. "The baby is…coming too fast. You'll…have to…deliver it."_

_Knuckles' jaw dropped. "I…" he stammered. "I…can't." He sounded more apologetic than he meant._

_"Please…" Rouge pleaded, her face squirmed. "I…I need you. You have to…help me."_

_For some reason, Knuckles found himself holding back tears. "I'm…I'm afraid."_

_"I know," she replied. "So…am I. But if you don't…do something now,…I could lose…my baby. Please…I'm sorry…that this baby…isn't yours. But…it still needs you." Her eyelashes fluttered as her eyes retreated upward. "I still need…ooooohhh!"_

_Knuckles eyes widened at the sound of Rouge's cry. Shaking all fear and uneasiness from his face, he knew what he had to do. He ran over to the table beside her bed and found sterile surgical gloves. He did his best to squeeze as much of the gloves as he could over his own large hands. Once he had that accomplished, he walked over to the end of Rouge's bed and bent down, trying with all his might to concentrate on the baby coming out whilst staring straight at Rouge's genitalia._

_Biting down on his lip, Knuckles kept his eye where it was, watching for a small head to creep its way out into the world. Above him, he could hear Rouge screaming and breathing uncontrollably. Knuckles became worried when, after a few moments, he saw nothing._

_He peered his head up at Rouge. "I don't see anything," he told her._

_"It's coming," she replied. "Just…wait."_

_Knuckles sank back down to watch for the baby. Rouge must have felt it, but Knuckles couldn't see it. "How do you know it's on its way?" he asked from below her._

_"Because I'm a mother!" she yelled through her agony. "I know when my child is coming! It will be here!"_

_Knuckles swallowed and continued to stare. He waited for a few minutes, and he was surprised how agonizing it was for him. Was he just getting caught up in the moment? Or did he really, actually care about the sake of Rouge's child?_

_Suddenly, in the midst of Knuckles' doubt, something began to appear. He leaned in a little closer to get a better look, and it appeared to be… "the baby's head!" he shouted._

_"What?" said Rouge in a tone that sounded weary from the whole ordeal._

_"I see the baby's head!" he repeated. "Keep pushing, it's almost out!"_

_Rouge leaned back against her pillow and pushed with every fiber of muscle and willpower she had left. It was working, because Knuckles could actually see the top of the baby's __head outside of its mother. He could also hear faint crying coming from inside. "C'mon Rouge, almost!" he shouted._

_Rouge screamed with what seemed like one final push as the baby's head slipped out of its mother's body. Rouge could hear the crying of the infant, and it gave her a reason to smile like she hadn't done in months. With her remaining strength, she forced the baby out as far as she could into the waiting arms of Knuckles. When she felt its feet finally slide out of her and the incredible pain suddenly subsided, if only slightly, Rouge spoke up._

_"Is the baby alright?" she asked from her pillow, almost out of breath, but too happy for words to describe._

_Knuckles did not reply._

_"Knuckles?" she said, her voice now worried. The baby was crying, as it should have been. But was there something wrong? "Knuckles, what's wrong with my baby?" she demanded, suddenly finding the strength to rise from her pillow and sit up to look down at Knuckles. But when she did, her eyes and jaw separated to the point of almost leaving her face._

* * *

_"Is she alright?" demanded Sonic. "How's the baby?"_

_The doctor smiled. "They're both doing great," he told them all as they waited without patience to see the newborn baby. "Little Cuticla and her mother made it through very nicely."_

_"Oh, she even named it already," noted Sonic._

_"Well it sounded like they both agreed on a name rather quickly," the doctor told him._

_Tikal's brow furrowed at the doctor. "They?"_

_The doctor nodded, obviously wondering what was confusing here. "Yes, both parents like the name."_

_The others looked around at each other, trying to see if anyone knew something they all didn't. Then they all turned to Shadow. "Don't look at me," he said, shrugging his shoulders. Or perhaps his shoulders were just relaxing at the now likely-sounding prospect of being relieved of his imposed duties as an unwilling father._

_"But…Knuckles is the only other one in there, right?" asked Amy._

_"Yes," replied the doctor. "Is there something I'm missing here?"_

_Sonic hesitated for a moment. "Well, can we all go in?"_

_"I suppose they're ready for visitors," said the doctor. "But just keep your voices slightly hushed. The baby is sleeping."_

_They nodded as the doctor stepped aside and let them all walk through the door. But Sonic, who was in front, stopped suddenly, upon which Tikal bumped into him and everyone behind her nearly tripped over the person in front of them._

_"Ow!" whined Amy, coming from behind. "What's the big deal guys?"_

_Everyone in front of her just stood and stared ahead. They could all get a good look inside the room at Rouge, lying in her bed looking extremely tired but happier than any of them had seen her in months. Her head was still damp with sweat and her eyelids looked heavy as boulders, but her faint smile was enough to brighten the room. She was looking down at the bundle in her arms, wrapped in a little pink blanket. And to everyone's astonishment, the bundle was…red._

_It took a few moments for the others to realize Knuckles sitting beside the bed in one of the chairs. He, too, was in a trance looking down at Rouge's child. But what was eerie was when the others looked back and forth between Knuckles and the baby. In addition to the red fur, both had abnormally large hands, although the baby had noticeably large fingernails instead of the pointed knuckles on the echidna's gloves. And those purple eyes…. Could that mean…_

_"She's beautiful," said Amy, who had pushed her way through the group to get a better look. It was great for the others, none of whom felt capable of breaking the silence with the right words._

_"She sure is," Knuckles said in passive agreement. "Little Cuticla here looks like she got the best of both of us, if I do say so myself."_

_"Yeah," said Tikal numbly. "Both of you."_

_Shadow couldn't hold it in anymore. "So…so your daughter is…isn't mine?"_

_Rouge pulled her face away from her newborn child. "I'm sorry, Shadow," she said in a genuine voice. She tried to find the right words to say to him. "I…I didn't mean to put you through all of that. And I'm sorry if you got any false hope from all this. I…I never thought it would turn out like this. I hope you can forgive me."_

_Shadow blinked and shook his head. "In all honesty Rouge…this may be the biggest relief I could have hoped for. I wasn't ready for that." He paused. "It looks like it all worked out for everyone."_

_Rouge looked down, although it appeared she was looking past her baby. "Yeah, yeah it did."_


	9. No Turning Back

**A/N: My bad for nearly forgetting all about updating this thing. I've been busy for a while and I've been having trouble getting past where I am in the story. I've actually had this chapter uploaded to the site for some time now; hopefully I can get going again with the rest of it with break coming up. FYI, this is the last flashback chapter, so you should know everything you need to know about what happened between "Trust" and Chapter 1 of "Until It's Gone" after you finish this. Hopefully you guys like it. I can't guarantee an update anytime soon, so enjoy this chapter while I try to crank out more to come.**

_**Chapter 9: No Turning Back**_

_Knuckles kept pinching himself as he sat there beside Rouge's bed. He knew how much he wanted this, but he had to act as though he would never get a second chance for fear of getting his hopes up for nothing. Since he saw the results of that paternity test, he tried to hold on to any hope that maybe it was wrong somehow. Never one to buy much into science, he could at least keep it in the back of his mind that his instincts were right and the test was wrong. But until today, he could never have proved it. And he wasn't expecting to._

_But Knuckles knew something dragged him here to the hospital today. He should have left when he figured out that Tikal had tricked him, but he stuck around while his pride threw a temper tantrum in his head. Was it that distant hope that he actually did have a child with Rouge that told him to stay and see for himself?_

_Knuckles shook himself out of his thoughts. He wasn't going to start reflecting now when he should be enjoying the birth of his daughter. He couldn't believe it. He had a daughter. He was a father. Looking at Rouge holding Cuticla while lying in the bed next to him, he couldn't remember having been so happy in any moment in his life. Knuckles was looking at his family._

_"Your baby is so cute!" squealed Cream._

_"Yeah, she looks just like her daddy," said Tikal, who out of the corner of her eye caught Knuckles blushing with pride. "You guys must be so proud," she added._

_"Yeah," said Rouge distantly. "You think you're ready after nine long months, but when they finally come, you realize nothing prepares you for holding your own baby in your arms."_

_"It must be so great knowing that this kind of fixes everything and that you guys can get another chance," said Amy._

_Knuckles managed to stretch his smile even wider. Rouge, however, looked as though she didn't register what Amy said._

_Sonic looked around. "Well, I think we're gonna let you guys have your space for a little while. Knuckles, we'll be down in the waiting room, alright?"_

_Knuckles nodded his response. "I'll catch up with you guys," he said._

_"Alright," said Sonic. And with that, he and the others left the room to the new proud parents and their newborn child._

_Knuckles and Rouge sat in silence for a moment after the door shut. But Knuckles couldn't keep silent for very long._

_"So I was thinking we could set up a crib in the corner of the bedroom back home on Angel Island. It might be kind of tight for now but I think we can manage until I can figure out something else or until we move into another apartment somewhere…"_

_Knuckles went on and on, but as he did, Rouge never once looked up at him, biting her lip the whole time. She looked very uneasy, but Knuckles was too focused on what he was thinking about to notice._

_"…have to stop on the way back to get some food for the baby, unless you think it's alright for her to be eating meat and big fruits already," he said with a laugh. "What do you think?"_

_Rouge couldn't look at him._

"…You never got over that did you?..."

"…What did you expect?..."

_"Rouge?" came Knuckles' voice. "Did you hear me?"_

"…You forgave me!..."

"…Well maybe now I'm regretting it!..."

_"I…" she stuttered. "I…"_

"…Knuckles, don't do this…"

"…Me, or the baby…"

_"I can't," Rouge whispered. "I'm sorry. I can't do it."_

_"Rouge, what are you talking about?" Knuckles asked, looking confused._

_Rouge looked up at him. She looked deep into his purple eyes to try and find a reason to believe that it really could work out. She wanted it to. But no matter what she did, all she could see was Knuckles standing there, refusing to give in, imposing everything on her._

"…Then I don't want you…"

_"I…I can't be with you, Knuckles," she finally told him._

_Knuckles felt his heart drop like a lead weight into his shoes. "What?" he said, dumbfounded._

_Rouge blinked a few tears back. "How can you just pretend like everything that's happened the last six months didn't happen? I think we both made ourselves clear a long time ago. We can never be together. Never."_

_Knuckles felt as though a stone was in his throat, suffocating him. "But," he gasped. "It all happened because of something that turned out to be wrong. We…we have a daughter together, Rouge. How does that not change everything?"_

_Rouge closed her eyes as she faced the floor. "So I'm just supposed to forget all those things you said to me, huh? I'm supposed to forgive you for the way you treated me? And the way you treated my daughter…our daughter?"_

_Knuckles shook his head frantically. "It was all for nothing. Don't you see that?"_

_"No," she said sternly, now opening her eyes. "Knuckles, you cut me. You cut me deep. And I don't think I've stopped bleeding yet. I don't know if I ever will."_

_"Rouge," he spoke nervously. "I love you. Damn it, if I had known—"_

_"So that's what it took to bring you back, is that it? All of a sudden you come back to me just because I have your baby. Don't lie to me, Knuckles. I'm tired of it."_

_The echidna had to look away. He was stunned and at a loss for words. "I…" he tried to say. "I never meant to hurt you. I was just so…I don't know…shell-shocked. I wasn't thinking straight."_

_"For six months?"_

_"You know I have a short temper!" he yelled defensively. "I couldn't stop myself, alright? You wouldn't know what it's like to have your world pulled from underneath your feet like that."_

_Rouge, acting as though she wasn't paying attention to Knuckles, reached over and paged a nurse._

_"What are you doing?" Knuckles demanded._

_Rouge kept silent until the nurse arrived. When she did, she came in looking concerned. "Yes, Rouge?"_

_"Could you please take my daughter to the nursery?" she asked, extending Cuticla out to the woman._

_"Absolutely," the nurse said eagerly. She gently took Cuticla in her arms and quickly walked back out the door._

_Before Knuckles could respond to what just happened, Rouge turned toward him. "I know exactly what that feels like," she hissed at him. "Do you think I was happy when I saw the paternity test results? You think I wanted to take the baby away from you?"_

_Knuckles let a thought slip from his mind. "Isn't that what you just did?" he asked coldly._

_Rouge shook her head. "You're pathetic, you know that?"_

_Without thinking, Knuckles launched his hand forward and snatched Rouge's arm violently. "You won't keep me from my daughter," he barked at her. "I swear on the Master Emerald, if I have to fight you until the day I die, I will not let you take her away from me."_

_Rouge whipped her arm out of his cold, hard grasp. "Get out," she said. "You don't want me. You never wanted me. All you want to keep you company in your lonely life is your pride. You'd burn down a forest just to kill a mouse. You don't give a damn about anybody—not me, not your friends, not even your own daughter. All you care about is yourself."_

_Knuckles shouted something, but it never left his head. His eyes were burning and his mind was spinning. His throat was sore and his hands were shaking. Somewhere on the path from his brain to his mouth, his thought dissipated, and he was left speechless. And he didn't care anymore. He was done._

_He stood up as casually as he could and kept his lips from contorting. Soon his pace quickened as he approached the door. If Rouge said something to him, he didn't hear it. He couldn't hear anything. Even his own distorted thoughts were drowned out by pounding silence. He barely registered the doorway in front of him as he walked quickly out of the room. Back out to the cruel world outside. He was escaping to it. Anywhere but in that room._

_Once he was in the hallway, Knuckles sped up, marching down the hall to the stairs. Almost running by then, he nearly tripped as he flew down the steps. He passed a few hospital personnel along the way, but to Knuckles they were all just a part of the emptiness around him. They all melted into the walls before his bloodshot eyes._

_At some point, he finally reached the lobby downstairs, where everyone else was waiting for him. Sonic said something, or at least Knuckles saw his mouth moving out of the corner of his eye, but no voice was heard. Knuckles simply sprinted over to the door and pushed his way outside._

_For all Knuckles knew, the wind could have been howling and lightning could have been flashing and thunder could have been exploding all over the sky, but he didn't care. All he saw was a street that had no end, a sky that was full of dark red and black clouds, and large empty buildings everywhere else._

_Knuckles did get a quick glimpse of Tails touching down along the curb just outside the hospital, and he was almost certain the fox was trying to say something to him, but Knuckles paid no attention. He didn't care about anyone else. He didn't care what he heard or didn't hear. He didn't care what he saw or didn't see. He didn't care anymore._

_Behind him, Sonic and the others had run out of the hospital after him. "Knuckles!" Sonic called out to him. "Where are you going?" But Knuckles didn't even look back._

_Tails shut his vehicle off and stepped out, completely unaware that a quick, high-pitched noise sounded off from beneath his machine. "What's wrong with Knuckles?" he shouted with an eyebrow raised as the others jogged down the sidewalk to his car._

_"We don't know," Tikal said in a worried voice as they began to approach him. "We have to go after him."_

_"Right," said Tails. "I can follow him in my plane. Cream, you wanna come with me?"_

_"Sure," said the rabbit. "We have to catch Knuckles!"_

_Tails nodded as Cream ran forward and jumped into his machine, with Tails doing so behind her, jumping into the pilot's seat. The others ran off the sidewalk and started to go down the street after Knuckles. However, on the step down, Sonic tripped and fell to the pavement._

_For the split second Sonic looked up, he saw Tails' car sitting there on the road along the curb, ready to take off. But just as Sonic heard Tails crank the key to start the engine, Sonic saw the light blinking rapidly underneath the car, the familiar looking logo of a mustached face with large round glasses plastered on the device. And for that split second, Sonic knew what was going to happen. His eyes shot wide open._

_"NOOOOOO!" he shouted, but no one heard him. He couldn't even hear himself. The explosion drowned out everything._

_The others stopped when they noticed Sonic had fallen, and had just turned around to see a bright flash go off in front of them, followed almost immediately by a deafening bomb that sent shrapnel in every direction. They all instinctively dove to the street beneath their feet. Or maybe they all collapsed. A blinding explosion made it difficult to tell._

_Even down the street, even in his own crumbling universe, Knuckles was knocked over by the bomb. But down the street, in his own crumbling universe, Knuckles did not recognize it. Or, at least, he didn't bother to. So many bombs were going off for him at this point he almost thought nothing of getting blown to the ground. He quickly stood up and looked briefly behind him one last time. For a split second, he thought he knew what happened, and he allowed himself to bite his lip. But that didn't stop him from turning right around again and continuing to run. Once he did, he never looked back. He couldn't look back. He wouldn't._

* * *

_Sonic stirred himself awake from what seemed like a year of unconsciousness. He took a moment to bring his senses back, slowly focusing his sight to see the interior of a hospital room. But before he could even look around, something clutched his stomach and he shot upwards from his bed. He began sweating heavily and his breathing grew rapid. His eyes darted around for a split second before he pulled his sheets off him and went to get out of his bed. But the moment he stood up, he collapsed in unexpected pain._

_A nurse burst into his room suddenly. "I'm sorry, Sonic, but you'll have to stay here for a while," she told him. "You took a big hit not too long ago. You need your rest."_

_Sonic was still sweating. He felt as if he had an electric charge coursing through his veins. "Where are Tails and Cream?" he panted. "I need to see them."_

_The nurse shook her head somberly. "I'm very sorry," she said somberly. "They're…they're gone."_

_"No," the hedgehog immediately blurted out. "No, I would know. They're alright, I know they are. I want to see them now," he added sternly._

_"Sonic, please, you need to get back in the bed. You're hurt—"_

_"I don't have time for this," he said quickly before speeding past the nurse. "I have to find Tails and Cream," he shouted as he turned to run down the hall. But when he tried to do so, he fell to the floor, clutching his left leg. It was only then that he noticed a white gauze bandage wrapped around his thigh. Underneath the white, he could feel it singeing his flesh and throbbing his hamstring muscle. But he did not let it defeat him. He stood up as awkwardly as he had to in order to minimize the pain, and then he began limping his way down the hall._

_The nurse had alerted the hospital staff by this point, so Sonic soon found himself running from doctors and nurses down the hall. Every time his foot pounded the ground, his leg was ready to collapse on him. But he willed his way forward, not sure exactly where he was going. Before long, he was closing in on Rouge's room. Maybe she could tell him what happened._

_"Rouge!" he shouted as he ran awkwardly into her room. Before he got a glimpse of who was in there, he turned around and shut and locked the door behind him. He was in no mood to deal with the hospital staff right now._

_Sonic looked around to see everybody standing around looking miserable. In fact, Amy was bawling into Shadow's shoulder as he held her close. Even the dark hedgehog was looking misty-eyed, his eyes drifting, his expression melancholy. Tikal had just collapsed into a chair and buried her face in her hands, and a small weeping noise was heard between her fingers. Rouge simply lay in her bed, looking down at her lap, tears gently sliding down her cheeks._

_"Where are Tails and Cream?" Sonic gasped, his voice cracked. "I need to see them now."_

_The others barely acknowledged him, but Amy became that much more emotional, and Shadow took to rocking slowly with her in his arms. He couldn't bare it anymore, and he closed his eyes and seemed to wince._

_Sonic walked over to Rouge's bedside. "Rouge, where are they?" Sonic demanded, his voice now sounding frightened._

_Rouge sniffled and bit her lip, shaking her head. She could not answer him._

_"Damn it, where are they?!" he shouted. He could feel his own tears coming to light._

_Rouge maintained her face. It was too much to mention it again._

_"I know they're alright!" Sonic yelled over his own pain. "Let me see them!"_

_Rouge finally reached over and grabbed Sonic's hand. "Sonic, please," she begged him._

_"No," he said through tears. "No, you're wrong. You're all wrong! They're alright, I know it!"_

_Rouge couldn't take it anymore. She pulled with all her might at Sonic's hand, and he easily collapsed into her, trying to shout all the way. "No! NO! NOOOO!!!" he uttered before finally burying his face in the pillow next to Rouge's head. Rouge wrapped her weak arms around him, and he finally gave in. And he sobbed into that pillow like he hadn't ever sobbed in his life. He knew it now. His best friend…his little buddy…was gone._

* * *

_Eggman slowly walked down the staircase of his laboratory, where his robotic minions were beginning work on his latest project._

_The doctor approached the lead technician. "How is the project progressing?" he asked of the bot._

_"The initiation phase has begun on schedule, sir," the robot replied in a monotone mechanical voice. "All goals of this stage are being met adequately."_

_"Good," said Eggman with an unmistakable grin on his face._

_He turned away and walked back towards the foot of the staircase. He was still frustrated that he had to divert his original idea, mostly because he was planning on something that never happened. "Oh well," he sighed to himself. "If Knuckles and Rouge can't give me an offspring for my plan, than I will have to use them instead! I'll just have to lie low for a while until this thing gets built, and then the fun will begin! Muahahahaha!"_

* * *

_Sonic held Rouge's hand as if he was holding on for his life. He was sitting quietly in a chair beside her bed, trying to find some kind of peace in himself. Tails and Cream would not want him to sit there and cry all day. And even then, just thinking about them made Sonic bite his lip again and try with all his will to douse the emotion radiating from his body. He couldn't even feel the burn on his leg._

_Tikal had long since left, promising to see them all again soon to discuss a way to honor Tails and Cream and their friendship that meant so much to all of them. Shadow and Amy remained behind for a while, and the four of them grieved with each other in silence for some time. Sonic and Amy, in particular, shared a long hug, like parents who had just gone through the death of their two children. Sonic and Tails were best of friends, and Amy and Cream shared a similar bond. All four had been so close for so long. They were, in essence, a family, like brothers and sisters. There was no way Sonic and Amy would ever get over or forget their loss. They had lost their little brother and sister._

_After a long period of silence, Shadow and Amy decided they better be getting home, although they knew they would find no comfort there. They spent a minute or two saying goodbye before finally leaving the room. It was then that Sonic went to sit down beside Rouge, where he now sat in painful silence._

_He finally broke it. "So I never got to ask how your baby was doing," he mentioned as casually as he could manage._

_Rouge looked up at his eyes. "Sonic, you don't have to do this," she told him. "Right now, Cuticla's safe and doing fine, and she's not on my mind right now. You don't have to avoid talking about—"_

_"But I…need to," he admitted before gulping. "I need to get my mind off this. What happened to Knuckles?" he suddenly asked, realizing that through all of this, no one seemed to notice he had run off and not come back._

_Rouge looked away. "I don't know," she said. "And I don't care."_

_Sonic raised an eyebrow. "But…but he's the father of your child. Doesn't that mean something?"_

_She shook her head. "Not enough," she told him. "He never wanted me. I told him the truth, and he couldn't handle it. So he ran off."_

_Sonic felt a little bold. "Are you sure you gave him a chance?"_

_Rouge looked at him. "Are you kidding me? He's had more chances than I can count! Sonic, Knuckles is too paranoid. He can't ever fully trust me. And he's too proud to ever admit that he's wrong. I told him so, and he just left."_

_"That's Knuckles though," Sonic told her. "You have to learn to look past that. He's a good guy; you just need to give him a chance."_

_"I'm done giving chances. I'm ready to move on, once and for all. Knuckles and I are through. Even if we share a child, we can't be together. So we're not."_

_Sonic looked down. This was easily the worst day of his life. And all he could do the whole day was stand by helplessly and watch it all unfold. It was miserable._

_"That's too bad," he said, still looking at the floor. "You guys are both good. I'm sorry it didn't work out."_

_"So am I," said Rouge distantly. She looked down at Sonic, a thought crossing her mind. She smiled lightly. If anything could go right today, maybe she could at least make this offer._

_"Hey, I was thinking," she said to the hedgehog. "I was gonna get a new apartment. You know, for me and the baby. I was wondering if maybe…you wanted to come and live with us."_

_Sonic's face shot up to look Rouge in the eye. For the first time all day, he looked a little like his old, upbeat self. "Really?"_

_"Yeah. If you want to, that is. I don't want you to feel like you have to just to keep me company. But…I think Cuticla could use somebody like you around. We both could." She was still smiling._

_Sonic mirrored her expression. "I'd love to," he said. He didn't even think twice about it. He now had something to feel good about._

_They instinctively reached towards each other and wrapped themselves around the other in a tight hug. They had both lost so much today. But they could find comfort in each other._

_And maybe a little more._

_They finally backed away after a minute or two, but they didn't let go of each other. Sonic looked into Rouge's eyes, and Rouge looked back at his. They both saw someone there that had gone through too much in one day, someone who understood them like no one else had ever been able to do. Someone who cared a lot about them._

_It was then that Sonic began giving in to this force pulling him back towards Rouge. Only this time, his head didn't cock to one side to rest on her shoulder, instead remaining steady. He slowly began leaning forward, and before either of them knew it, their lips met passionately. And they never wanted to let go._

* * *

_Knuckles sat alone on the couch inside his living room. His face was buried in his hands, but he wasn't crying. He was only trying to shut out the world around him. He just wanted to leave. He didn't care how or where. He had to leave everything._

_The echidna heard voices swimming around his mind, but he couldn't tell who they belonged to. Speaking all at once, they all sounded like a distorted chorus of chaos, each one numbing his already weakened psyche. He was afraid to open his eyes and remove his hands for fear that he would see the room in front of him spinning furiously in rhythm with the sounds inside his head._

_After sitting there for what felt like hours, Knuckles finally launched himself from the couch and flew at the wall. As if the source of the voices were in front of him, he swung his clenched fist forward and crashed it through the wall, leaving a hole as large as his head in his wake. But the voices followed him to the small table in the middle of the room, so in the blink of an eye he demolished the furniture at his feet with one swift pounding. Without thinking anything of it, Knuckles then picked up one of the now broken legs of the table and hurled it across the room where it collided with a picture hung on the wall. The glass from the picture made a loud crack as the frame and its contents collapsed to the ground. For a split second, Knuckles was curious enough to walk over and examine it, but when he saw his own smile beneath the broken glass, he stabbed his fist through the picture and let it fall to the floor with an unnerving clunk._

_The pounding in his ears did not let him hear his front door open. Without Knuckles even noticing, Tikal slowly walked in to the room. Her eyes were as red as Knuckles and looked as if she hadn't slept in days. She certainly felt that way, sweaty and exhausted from her rush back to Angel Island and everything that had happened today. She knew Knuckles had come back home, but she wasn't sure how she would find him. She never asked Rouge what happened after they had all left the two of them alone with their child, but she knew something was wrong when she saw the way Knuckles bolted out of the hospital and out of the city. In the midst of everything that happened, everyone sort of forgot about Knuckles. It was only after she left the others that Tikal suddenly remembered Knuckles. Now, seeing him on his knees, looking down at a destroyed picture of himself, Tikal felt her heart pang inside her chest._

_With her eyes growing misty, she walked over to him and knelt down beside him, putting her hand gently on his. Knuckles didn't even flinch when he saw her suddenly beside him. In fact, he couldn't have hoped for anything better at that point. He didn't move a muscle as Tikal slowly wrapped her arms around him, letting her be absorbed into his skin. He simply sat there, unphased with not so much as a blink of his eyes. Only his mouth made the occasional tremble._

_Tikal, however, couldn't hold her emotions any longer. She silently began to cry on Knuckles' shoulder, and that was what finally broke him out of his trance. Without turning his head, he reached a hand up and placed it gently on her head. It did little to quell her, but it was all he himself could have done. Knuckles wanted to take her pain and put it on his shoulders, and if letting her cry on them was as close as he could do, then he would do it. He managed a turn of his head to glance at her for a moment, but she was still buried in his shoulder, so he turned away again._

_After a short while, Tikal found the strength to pull her head up. "Tails…and Cream…they're…" she managed to utter before cringing her eyes again. With an arm still wrapped around Tikal, Knuckles slowly looked down at the ground. A single tear fell silently to the floor as Knuckles clenched his other fist. He could only swallow his pain._

_"I should have stayed back," he finally muttered. "I could have done something…" his voice started to shake before he could finish his sentence. He had to close his eyes and turn away._

_Tikal was still crying. "What are we going to do, Knuckles?"_

_Knuckles, who had been biting his lip so much today that he was surprised it was still intact, said all that he could believe at this point. "We're gonna make it," he said, and this time, his voice did not shake. For the first time in as long as he could remember, Knuckles spoke with confidence. "We're gonna get through this. We may only have each other now, but that's all we need. You and me, we'll find a way. I promise."_

_Tikal looked up at Knuckles. He, like her, had just gone through arguably the worst day of his life. He lost his friend, ran from his other friends, had Rouge no more all over again, and probably had his child taken from him for good. Despite all of this, he was looking down at Tikal with a small smile that told her everything she needed to hear. He was going to make it through all of this, and he was going to do it with her. Without even needing to speak it, he told her that he would not leave her alone now, that he would be by her side through whatever storm she had to weather. If they were going to suffer, they would suffer together. They would be the only light for each other in the darkest time each of them had ever known. And that was all Tikal needed to hear._

_For what seemed like hours, the two stared into each other's eyes as if they had nothing else to look into. They could see the pain and the emotion, but they could also see an undying caring for the other that they had always known was there. But something was different now. There was a brighter light shining behind the tears and the fatigue. It was like a lifeline between the two. It was a mutual instinct that gave them the only source of hope they knew they could find in the world. And the closer they got, the stronger it shined. Soon enough, they felt as if they were staring into the sun, but it was a shimmering light that they welcomed with open hearts. They soon felt the other's breath on their face, and there was no turning back. Giving in to everything around them, Knuckles and Tikal connected in a passionate kiss that only grew stronger with each second. As if they drew strength from it, they fought any shock and restraint and indulged in the one piece of happiness and love that either of them had left. But it was all the happiness and love that either of them needed._


	10. A Distant Hope

**A/N: Again, sorry for the long wait, but I didn't want to mess around with this chapter. It's definitely long and probably just as important, so I wanted to make sure I didn't rush through it or BS anything just to get it done faster. School starts up Monday, so I have no idea how committed I can be to this story for a few months, but I will try. It all depends on my work and how "in to" the story I am. I pretty much know what I want to do with it, it's just actually writing it and all the details that aren't always fun. Also, just so everyone knows, this is technically after Chapter 7 if you've been following along with the chronology of the story. I.e., from now on, the entire story takes place in the present, whereas some were flashback chapters. Anyway, hope you enjoy Chapter 10! (*EDIT*: I added one last paragraph to this chapter as of 1/21/09. It's not really important; it just adds to the "moment")**

**Chapter 10: A Distant Hope**

Knuckles blinked and drudged slowly over to the wall that he could barely see in the dark dungeon. Extending his arm out, he felt the coarse stone on the palm of his glove, running his hand along the rough surface. In the chilling silence, the noise he made felt like nails on a blackboard, and without even looking behind him, he knew it was making Rouge uncomfortable. So he stopped and simply rested his forehead against the wall, his eyes closed tight.

Rouge, meanwhile, did not stand in her stance for long either. She soon began scuffing her boots on the hard gravel floor, trying to remind herself that she was in fact still alive and not in some nightmarish hell from which there was no escape. Growing impatient, she began to nervously tap her foot, growing louder with every touch of the floor. When she couldn't stand it any longer, she grunted out in frustration.

Knuckles was a little startled as he turned around quickly. "Would you please not do that?" he said in a more demanding tone than what his words would have meant. Rouge may have stopped her foot, but she would not remain quiet.

"I'm getting out of here," she said forcefully. "I'm not staying here with you." The emphasis she put on the last word seemed to push Knuckles into the wall a little.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" he said to the wall in front of his face, his voice littered with futility.

Rouge turned around to face him, but she couldn't really see him. And even if Knuckles was facing her, he couldn't have seen here eyebrow raised at him, making that face that said she couldn't believe what he had just said.

"I'll tell you what I plan on doing," she told him. "I plan on fighting. I plan on kicking and screaming. I plan on knocking some heads around. I plan on kicking someone's ass. I plan on taking control."

She began to walk over to him, and she began to feel his presence inches from her body. "I plan on not giving in."

Suddenly Knuckles furiously turned around to face her, and she tripped backwards unexpectedly.

"What the hell are we supposed to do?" he barked at her. She only looked on in disbelief at his reaction. "This is it. This is the end. This is the last piece of this puzzle. After all these months and years of trying to fight through everything, it's finally become too much. We're finished."

Rouge's gaze never left his face as she stood up. "What's happened to you?" she demanded. "Don't tell me Tikal's weakened your resolve."

"Don't even talk to me about Tikal!" he shouted at her. He then lowered his hoarse voice, but only a few notches. "Tikal is everything to me. She's all I have in this world now." He grunted before finishing with, "And you've made damn sure of that."

Rouge felt her nose cringe slightly. "And where does Cuticla fit into that world of yours?"

Knuckles clenched his fists tight enough to keep the blood out. "I just told you. You've made sure I have nothing other than Tikal. You took my daughter away from me."

Rouge wanted to scream back at him. Months ago, she would have done so without giving it any thought. But now she was too exhausted and too tired of this everlasting tension. She was fed up with it. She was fed up with him. So she turned and walked to the other side of the cell.

* * *

"What?!" shouted Eggman.

"Yes sir," the robot replied cautiously. "The reports indicate that it is affirmative. There is an offspring of the echidna and bat somewhere out there."

"And how in the world did we miss this?!" fumed the doctor.

"Our intelligence sources from the bar that night confirmed that the child carried by the bat was in fact that of the ultimate life form, not that of the echidna."

"Did they check for any signs of false information?"

"The emotions were evident that night, according to our source. Those kinds of emotions could not be fabricated. It was unknown to even the parents of the child. We could not have foreseen this."

Eggman stuttered, trying to come up with a way to shoot down this new information. He refused to believe he had come so far in this direction only to have his initial best-case scenario there all along. Suddenly, he remembered something.

"Didn't Rouge take a paternity test?"

"Yes," the mech replied. "The test confirmed that the child is that of the ultimate life form. That is why we were led to believe—"

"Then how can it possibly be Knuckles' child?!" shouted the doctor. "The paternity test analyzes DNA—it's awfully hard to confuse the genetic makeup of the ultimate life form with the echidna guardian of the Master Emerald!"

"Sir, we are baffled by this development, but the reports are validated by the current DNA strand obtained by the collection units sent to capture the bat. The child in that apartment was the offspring of none other than the echidna."

Seeing no other way around this, Eggman slammed his fist on the table before him, letting out a cry of extreme frustration.

"So you're telling me that someone tampered with that paternity test?" he demanded from his minion.

"It would appear to be that way, sir," it replied.

"But…but those things are supposed to be locked away tight. You can't just walk into the hospital and swap a paternity test. To even have access to the results at all, you need to receive permission from hospital personnel. You need to have some sort of connection to the parents."

The robot remained silent for a few seconds before answering. "Perhaps one of their companions swapped the results," it claimed.

"But why?" Eggman wondered aloud. "None of them knew of my plot, I'm certain of that. Perhaps Shadow felt mischievous and decided to…oh, never mind! I shouldn't be wracking my brain around petty matters such as these."

The robot sensed that it was no longer needed in the lab and turned to leave when Eggman stopped it. "Wait!"

The mech walked back to its master to hear his command. "I've got an idea," he said gleefully.

* * *

Sonic heard the door knock and quickly walked over to go open it. He was relieved to see that Tikal had finally gotten there.

"Sorry I was a little late getting here," she explained quickly. "I just had to take care of a few things on Angel Island before I left." She paused to look around. She saw over Sonic's shoulder the mark on the wall from when he must have hurled his phone across the room. "How are you holding up?"

Sonic cleared his throat. "Considering the circumstances, I think I'm doing alright," he said sadly. "I just put Cuticla back to bed for a little while. It'll be easier to discuss everything without having to worry about her for a few moments."

Tikal looked down as she walked in slowly. "It would be nice for all of us to be put down to sleep for a little while," she said. "Maybe we might wake up from this nightmare."

Sonic followed her to the couch, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We will," he told her. "We'll get through this. I promise."

Tikal managed a small smile. "Knuckles would always say that," she told him. "And he'd want me to think it, too. We owe it to them."

"Yeah," agreed the hedgehog. "We've got to find Eggman's base!"

Tikal sat down on the couch. "But what about Shadow and Amy?" she asked him. "We haven't heard from them in weeks. Do you think something happened to them?"

Sonic bit his lip. "Maybe Eggman captured them, too," he said. "But I think if we try and follow Shadow and Amy's footsteps, we'll surely find those two and Eggman. And Rouge and Knuckles."

Tikal smiled. "That sounds like a great idea." She then frowned slightly. "But where did they go?"

Sonic's brow furrowed. "I think they went in the direction of the Sahara Desert. I say we make our way out there and hopefully pick up where they left off. Maybe we'll join up with them."

Tikal had one more question. "What about Cuticla?"

Sonic had an answer for her. "Our neighbors next door would be happy to watch her for us for a little while—they've done it before when Rouge and I go out. It shouldn't be a problem."

"Alright," said the echidna as she stood up from the couch. She let her lips break into a small grin at this glimmer of hope in front of them. "Let's go find our friends!"

Sonic nodded. "We will," he said firmly.

* * *

The Sahara was a cold place at night. For miles into the horizon, all that existed were hills of sand and shimmering stars dotting the night sky. It was actually a rather picturesque scene on a clear night with a gentle breeze blowing a few grains of sand from mound to another. Dust blowing in the wind would make small loops in the air before settling peacefully on the surface below, waiting only a second or two to be picked up again by the omnipresent wind. All that could be heard was the friction of grain on grain or the whistle of the wind through one's ears. The only source of light were the white dots in the sky or the occasional moonlight shining down upon the barren sand fields of Africa. It was easy to get lost in the scene.

Particularly when you're stunned to sleep and left to eternity to lie there and be swallowed up by the windswept sand grains.

It had been weeks, and after such a long time, the nature of the desert began to act on the immobile forms of Amy and Shadow. In fact, all that remained in visibility of either hedgehog was Shadow's white glove, his flame ring glowing in the reflection of the starlight above. Amy herself had been completely buried from all of the sand blown across her body to settle there softly as if nothing were different. But the unique feature of the stun guns used to immobilize the two of them was that they put their targets in an unusual condition of stasis that could only be disturbed by the will of some outside force. In short, someone who cared an awful lot about them would have to come along and awaken them with the power of their will. Until then, however, Shadow and Amy were helpless to the ways of Mother Nature and were left to be forever hidden under the sand of the Sahara.

The tips of Shadow's glove slowly began to sink beneath the sand, particle by particle.

* * *

Rouge felt the silence sitting between her and Knuckles in the dungeon. Finally, she could no longer ignore his claim.

"You kept pushing me," she told him. "Until I had no choice but to pull away."

"Please," he said immediately. "Let's not go through all of this again."

"Then why do you constantly insist that this was all my doing?" she demanded.

Knuckles paused to sigh for a moment. "I know I've made mistakes. I've admitted that I was wrong at times. But you never gave me a chance to make up for all that I did."

Rouge's jaw gaped at his figure in the shadows. "How can you honestly expect a second chance after the things you said? After treating me and the baby like trash, you think you can just walk back into my life as if everything's fine again? Because it's not Knuckles. And it will never be."

"I'm not trying to get back into your life anymore. I made it pretty clear that you aren't any focus of my life now or ever. I've moved on. I don't need to feed apology after apology to you."

Rouge tightened her upper lip. "Well I guess we're both just better off then?"

Knuckles crossed his arms and turned away, his eyes closed. "If you say so."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

Knuckles didn't answer immediately. "Are you trying to say something about Sonic and I?" Rouge asked him.

Knuckles managed to smile mischievously. "I never said anything," he said in a tone that was dripping with guilt.

"You think I'm not happy with Sonic, is that it, you arrogant jackass?"

Knuckles let out a small chuckle. "Boy Rouge, you sure are putting words in my mouth. You sure everything's alright?" he asked in a smart-allecky tone.

"I'm gonna put something in your mouth," she warned him. "Keep talking like that and you'll have my boot knocking your teeth in."

Knuckles' didn't sound too threatened. "I'll keep that in mind," he said dryly, laughing a little.

Rouge grinded her jaws, but then suddenly she split her mouth into a grin herself, her eyes narrowing as she found the upper hand. "Or it could it be that you're insecure in your own relationship?" she purred in a goading manner.

Knuckles whipped around instantly. "What did you say?" he growled at her.

Now Rouge turned away and folded her own arms, eyes closed as she continued to smirk. "Trying to cover up for your own unhappiness, huh Knuckie—uh," Rouge suddenly cleared her throat. "Knuckles?"

Knuckles was caught off guard. "What did you call me?" he stuttered.

"I called you Knuckles," Rouge said quickly, but calmly. "What else did you want me to call you?"

Knuckles eyed her, now close enough to see her, but not very clearly. "You're trying to mess with me, I can tell," he said to her shadow.

Rouge tried to look bewildered enough for him to see. It wasn't too hard to force it. "What are you talking about?"

"You've always been that way," he said. "Ever since I met you. Somewhere along the way I forgot how manipulative you can be…."

Knuckles didn't get a chance to finish his point. Before going any further, Rouge found his face with her large white boot. She heard his body collide with the wall at the far side of the room. She resisted the urge to cringe at the noise of the impact.

Knuckles grunted as he stood up slightly dazed. He turned to look at her. Suddenly his sight became a lot more sensitive. Maybe it was the adrenaline. "What the hell was that for?"

Instead of responding, Rouge flew furiously at him, but this time he was ready for her. When he saw her leg swing around for another attack, he threw his fist in the way to stop it. Ignoring the impact of what felt like a sledgehammer against the back of his hand, Knuckles launched his other fist forward and landed an upper cut under Rouge's chin, sending her flying across the dungeon.

"I've had enough of you," he told her. "Let's settle this right now."

Rouge got up without too much trouble. "You're making a big mistake. And I'll make you regret it."

She suddenly pushed off the ground with her powerful legs and hovered in the air, daring Knuckles to jump after her. When he bit, she wasted no time in sending a heart-tipped boot at him, which knocked the echidna back to the ground in a split second. But almost just as quickly, Knuckles leapt from the floor and dove at Rouge, tackling her back to the ground. But before Knuckles could land a quick strike, the bat launched him to the ceiling this time. As he fell to the floor, she quickly stood up and swung her right foot to kick him into the wall, but Knuckles would not be beaten that easily. He used his dreadlocks to slow his fall just before she swung her foot around, and then he turned and fired a thunder punch at her. Rouge didn't have the time to react and found herself knocked backward to the other side of the room.

Knuckles' breathing was becoming labored. "You should just give up now. It's useless to challenge me."

Rouge stood firm once she rose to her feet once more. "If that's all you got, I can go all day with this," she taunted.

Knuckles ran full speed at her, but she saw it coming and sidestepped him. Once he passed her, she launched her foot backward and kicked him into the wall. But it didn't take him long to bounce back. He used his speed once more and knocked her backward, driving her into the other wall on the opposite side of the room.

Still on top of her, Knuckles saw her right arm come forward trying to strike him so as to knock him away. But he reached out and caught it just before her fingertips touched his face, and he held her there.

Her legs rendered helpless backed up against a wall, Rouge squirmed beneath Knuckles' will. "Let go of my hand," she commanded.

"Hmph, don't get any ideas," he grunted back at her.

Rouge only had to whisper at him they were so close. "I'm not the one whose hand is trembling," she said slyly.

Knuckles eyes widened quickly as he realized what she felt, and he immediately let go of her and backed off. The close contact had made him uncomfortable.

It was just what Rouge needed. Caught off-guard by her remarks, Knuckles did not focus on her massive boot flying towards him, and he was sent sliding across the stone floor.

He grunted as he stood up again. "What a surprise; you resorting to underhanded tactics," he said. "But you won't get me with that again."

"So I made you blush and practically stumble backward trying to get off me, is that it?" she implied.

Without a second thought about it, Knuckles sped furiously at Rouge, so fast she barely saw him. As he approached her, he swung his clenched fist at her face and knocked her back so hard she almost lost consciousness. But it wasn't enough to quiet her.

She slowly stood up, refusing to stop. "What's the matter, can't handle fighting me?" she taunted him.

Knuckles launched another punch her way, but she reacted this time. She stopped it with her own hand and fought hard to keep him from reaching her face. While she did this, Knuckles threw his other fist at her, but she cocked her head to the side and let his hand punch right through the stone wall. Knuckles refused to flinch as he stood Rouge down.

"You were never good for me," he grunted to her face. "I should have seen you for what you are and what you've always been; a ruthless thief who stops at nothing to get what she wants. I feel sorry for Sonic; he has no idea what he's gotten into."

Now Rouge was mad. Her eyes lit up with an angry fire as she threw Knuckles' hand to the side and kicked him so hard that he flew back into the opposite wall and was actually knocked inches into the wall, leaving an imprint of his body in the rock. But he found that it didn't faze him as much as it should have.

"What does Sonic have that you want so badly?" he jeered at her. "I mean, that was why you were after me, right? You just wanted the Master Emerald from me. What do you want from Sonic?"

Rouge suddenly flew at Knuckles, but he was able to grab her foot and hold her steady while she tried to push her way to landing another kick. She launched her other foot forward, but Knuckles met it with his other hand. They struggled that way for a moment or two.

"You don't even deserve me," said Rouge, her voice growing more fatigued with every passing breath.

"That's funny," said Knuckles, his voice also fading slightly. "Because I feel like I don't need you."

"I don't…" Rouge muttered. "…need you either."

With what felt like his last gasp of strength, Knuckles managed to hurl Rouge by her feet towards the left wall. She didn't have the power to resist it and found herself flying into the rock. But Knuckles was not done yet. He rushed forward to confront her again.

And that's when he stopped.

He had put his left hand up against the wall to both steady himself and to keep Rouge from escaping that way, and his right hand was ready to land another shot to her weakening form, but it did not come forward when his brain told it to. Something in his chest pulled on it like the string of a puppet. He felt a chill run down his spine and fought against it. But the more he fought it, the worse it seemed to get, and the chill didn't go away. In fact, it grew into a full body shiver. He bit his lip, but it did nothing to calm his nerves.

He forced an image into his head of Rouge sleeping with Shadow. But even as he did this, another image crept into his mind, this one of Rouge sleeping softly in their bed back home on Angel Island. He bit harder and shoved that image away and replaced it with one of her stealing jewels from around the world while fighting her own friends to get her way. But just as Knuckles began to focus on it, he was drawn to one of Rouge fighting fearlessly against the powers of her mother back on Malterr. His eyes darted around, seeking a vision of Rouge that he could cling to as if they were scattered on the wall and floor around him. Finally, he remembered her slapping him in that bar after he had walked in and confronted her and Sonic. No sooner had he began to think of that when he saw Rouge lying in that hospital bed, gently cradling her daughter…_their_ daughter. Knuckles saw Rouge smiling down at the baby, and he couldn't help but smile himself. His face distorted itself, however, trying to fight the emotions building inside his heart, but he felt like that battle was fading fast.

Now that pull in his chest that kept his arm back from striking Rouge slowly released its grasp, and Knuckles felt his hand relax, but only slightly and for a moment. Soon, as involuntarily as his heart beating—and racing—inside his chest, his hand unclenched and slowly extended outward. His brain commanded it to return to his side and prepare for another attack, but his heart had taken over, and urged it to gently reach out to Rouge. Knuckles soon began to sweat, and he felt his throat seem to close up and his breathing became harder and harder. His stomach tossed and turned inside of him, and he could only swallow to try and calm himself. Trembling, his hand finally inched forward and felt Rouge's soft cheek. His heart instantly panged inside his chest and pounded against his rib cage. He felt afraid for his life.

Rouge's involuntary reaction was to reach up and smack his hand away from her, but something kept her hands glued to the floor. She expected to feel a stinging feeling the instant his glove reached her face, but the only thing she felt was a lump form in her throat. She didn't know what to do until she looked up into Knuckles' eyes and saw the fear in them. She saw the panic on his face. Something she had never seen from Knuckles. Beads of sweat ran down his blushing red cheeks, and she could feel his quick breathing on her own face. Rouge had never seen Knuckles look so terrified in his life. As if simply touching her fair skin would be the kiss of death and that he would be forever banished to a world of inescapable torture, Knuckles' hand shivered as he felt Rouge through his glove.

But as Rouge became drawn into this trance that held the two of them, her own face grew red from blushing. Knuckles felt it through his glove and felt her cheek grow warm. It was enough to calm his screaming nerves enough so as to know just what he was doing. But he still could not stop his heart from racing. What he could feel, however, were his eyelids relaxing ever so slightly. His mouth also loosened from its stoic form and actually start to tremble a little. Subconsciously, his other hand had freed itself from the surface of the rock wall and found the side of Rouge's neck while his other hand slid down her face to the opposite side of her neck. Knuckles felt like he held his world in his hands; everything that was near and dear to him right in front of him, in his gentle, calm grasp that felt like it could never, should never, let go. The thought overwhelmed him, and he felt the tears begin to seep from his eyes. But although his eyes grew cloudy, even in the dark dungeon, he was staring at the strongest source of light he would ever find. Knuckles then felt Rouge's hands move to rest on his shoulders. He hadn't ever remembered something that felt so empowering and yet so weakening. But when he saw Rouge's own tears begin to stream from her eyes, Knuckles could stand it no longer.

Knuckles lunged forward and met Rouge, letting go of everything. He let go of his anger, his pain, his pride. He let go of his nightmares, his premonitions, his memories. He let go of his commitments, his values, his promises. He let go of his strength, his will, his weaknesses. Everything.

Knuckles embraced Rouge and would never let her go. His lips would never leave hers. His face would always touch hers. His hands would always hold her. He would never leave her warmth.

Together, Knuckles and Rouge let months of distrust and anger wash away with a kiss that only grew stronger, an attraction that neither would ever let die again. Together, they quietly mourned everything that had happened the last year: the false paternity test, the doubt that crept into their minds about each other, the initial break-up, the long months without seeing one another, the glimmer of hope destroyed by the deeper mistrust of each other, the final split, and even the deaths of Tails and Cream. Then they mourned softly over their own current situation: their separation from their own daughter, being taken from their loved ones and friends, and the pain of not knowing what was coming next. All they knew was that they were the only ones they had at that moment and that they could find comfort in the other simply by looking deep into their eyes.

"I'm so sorry," breathed Knuckles as he struggled to merely tear his face away from Rouge for more than a second. "I missed you."

Rouge found it just as difficult to respond. "I love you…so much," she muttered. "And I'm sorry…that I didn't believe in you."

"No," he managed to reply. "I'm sorry…for not trusting you."

When Rouge could not rip herself away to respond, Knuckles went on. "Just promise me…that you'll never leave me again…."

Rouge, in the midst of the moment, decided not to immediately answer that request, and instead chose to make the most of the present, rather than worry about the future.

* * *

"So…" Sonic began cautiously as he and Tikal walked out of the apartment building. "How had Knuckles been holding up with everything?"

Tikal looked at him as they walked down the sidewalk. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Sonic tried to explain. "We all know a lot's happened over the last almost two years. And I haven't seen much of him at all since Cuticla was born."

It was fairly dark already with the sun going down, so there were not many people walking up and down the city streets, making it easier to have a more private conversation.

"It's been hard," Tikal admitted, but she knew Sonic already knew that much. "But we can still make each other happy. That much may just be enough to get us through it all."

Sonic nodded. "I know him and Rouge won't really talk anymore, and believe me, I hate it as much as you or anyone else does. I hope Rouge and I don't ever have to deal with any of that. But you and Knuckles should really try to come by more. I know he's stubborn, but he's also my friend, and we all need each other more and more these days. I miss seeing you guys so much."

Tikal looked down, afraid what she might say would cause more pain than necessary, but she felt she had to. "I couldn't agree more. And I know why you say that. What happened to Tails…."

Sonic did not interrupt her, but Tikal stopped out of caution for the hedgehog's emotions. After a few seconds, he responded. "I know. After Tails died," he said, finding himself still swallowing hard. "It really put some things in perspective for me. All of our days are numbered here in this world. One day, none of us will be here anymore, except maybe Shadow, but I think you get my point."

Tikal nodded as he continued. "We just don't know what we have until it's gone. Those memories of Tails—and Cream too—are all I have of them now. We'll never get to save the world together anymore…."

Tikal saw Sonic beginning to tear up, so she reached out and rested her hand on his own to comfort him. Sonic smiled and straightened his face out, refusing to be beaten again by this unrelenting agony.

"I'm alright," he told her. "But thanks."

Tikal smiled. "It's OK to accept that you might never get over losing your best friend," she told him. "Believe me, Tails' and Cream's losses will never leave my heart. And I won't try and deny that by fighting through it. It hurts…a lot. I wish they were here right now. And Knuckles and Rouge and Shadow and Amy. There's no shame in wanting that." She paused for a moment. "No one ever said Sonic the Hedgehog couldn't shed a few tears," she finished with a smile.

Sonic laughed a little. "Yeah," he said. "But they wouldn't want me to mope around and choke up every time someone mentions their names. That's no way to honor them."

"But you're not moping around," Tikal said as they began to reach the city limits. "You're going to find your friends. You're fighting on. You're not living in the past. You can move on without forgetting about the past. You still have a lot to fight for, and you haven't given up. And you won't."

Sonic could only continue to smile. "Thanks Tikal," he said finally. "It means a lot to have a friend like you. Knuckles must be a pretty lucky guy to have you in his life."

Tikal returned his smile. "I feel lucky to be in his. I don't know where I'd be without him." She looked away as if daydreaming. "It's funny, we've always been like brother and sister, you know? We kind of have this connection where we always seem to know what the other is thinking. If he's upset, I feel as though I carry the same pain. If he's elated, I can't get the smile off my face. Looking back on everything now, it's sort of ironic how we ended up together. I never thought it would happen, but I guess stranger things have come about, huh?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah. If you had told me two years ago that I would be with Rouge, I might have thought you just walked out of the insane asylum, and not just because, well, she was with Knuckles at the time. But there's just something about her. She does make some pretty darn good chili dogs," he said, laughing.

Tikal laughed with him. She hadn't felt so loose like that in quite a while. "Well that's good," she admitted, still chuckling.

"Yeah," he replied. "But in all seriousness, she just seems so…determined, like no one else I know. She never gives up and she'd do anything for her friends. I know she doesn't have the cleanest record by any means, but I have to love the way she's turned her life around and committed to something like raising a child. Rouge means everything to me, and I couldn't go on without her."

"I know what you mean," muttered Tikal as the two of them reached the outskirts of the city and prepared to make their journey out to the Sahara.

* * *

Rouge rolled over and felt like she had just woken up from the greatest dream she had ever remembered having. Except when she turned, she saw Knuckles still lying there next to her. It was the most comforting feeling in the world to be with him at that moment in time.

"So…" he began as he saw her move to face him. "You never answered me."

Rouge looked confused. "What do you mean?" she asked.

He sat up and looked at her. "Will you promise me that you'll never leave me again?"

Rouge smiled at him, but it was a bit nervous looking. "Can't we just enjoy the time we have now, and forget about commitments for one moment?"

Knuckles now looked concerned. "Rouge, why won't you answer me?"

Rouge saw that she could not avoid this any longer. "Because," she sighed. "Because we've already walked away from this. We've both moved on. We have our own lives now."

Knuckles shook his head. "No we haven't," he said. "What we just did shows how far we _haven't_ gotten without each other. I felt that; that wasn't just a release of something pent-up for almost a year. That was the real thing. I love you. And you love me. Isn't that enough?"

Rouge frowned sadly. "It can't be," she said solemnly. "I know what we just did, and I know what we have. But how are we supposed to go back to Sonic and Tikal and tell them what happened? Do you think they'll just accept it and move on without even thinking about it?"

Knuckles had to think about it for a second. "What I do know is that I can't live a lie. I can't be with Tikal if my heart's with you. That's not fair to you, me, or Tikal. Are you prepared to keep this kind of emotion secret for the rest of your life?"

"I have to," Rouge told him. "Knuckles, I'm a mother now. I have to act responsibly, and so do you, being a father. We've made those decisions already. We can't go back on them."

"Being responsible doesn't mean hiding your emotions. Being responsible means being true to yourself and to everyone around you. I'm done with the mistrust and the lies. I'm tired of keeping this to myself. Rouge, you mean everything to me. Tikal will always be close to me, but she can never be what you are to me. Tikal is like my sister, and I tried to turn that relationship into a romantic one. But I think deep down, I knew all along it would never work. Somehow, some way, I would find my way back to you. And I have. So please, will you come back to me?"

Rouge looked down and shook her head. "I'm sorry Knuckles," she whispered. "I love with you everything that I am, but not enough to turn my back on Sonic. He needs me after everything that's happened to him in the last two years, with Blaze and then Tails and Cream dying. If I left him, I'd be leaving him all alone in this world, and it would just be one more loss in his life."

"But you're not being fair to yourself," Knuckles explained. "And I hate to sound this way, but you're not being fair to me, either. Sonic would still have you as a friend. And he would have me, Tikal, and Amy and Shadow once we find them again. He still has a lot to lose, even if he doesn't have you anymore the way he does now."

"It's not the same, Knuckles. How do you think Sonic would react if I told him, 'Hey listen, sorry but I'm going back to Knuckles. Hope your life is great.'?"

"Sonic wouldn't want you to lie to him and keep it together when your heart's not in it. If you go to him and explain to him that you've done some serious thinking about all of this, and that you've decided that it's best for everyone that you follow your heart, I know he won't say no to you. He would understand, Rouge."

"And what about Tikal?"

"Tikal would understand too. She knows what you and I once had, and how hard it is to let go of all of that. I know I plan on telling her the truth, that I can't be with her anymore. Not when I know who my heart really belongs to."

"I don't know Knuckles…."

"And think about Cuticla too. Wouldn't it be great for her to see her parents reunited, living the life we've always wanted for her?"

Rouge visibly struggled to make a decision. "I…I don't…"

Suddenly, they heard the lock of the dungeon door turn, and the door swung open instantly like a loud drum. Both Knuckles and Rouge, who were sitting near each other on the floor, looked to the light with disgust to see Eggman's outline cast over them.

"Well, well, glad to see you two have made up nicely," the doctor smiled evilly as he looked down at Knuckles and Rouge, who were close enough to suggest that something might have happened between them. "But your usefulness for me is upon us. Come, I will explain my deal to you along the way to the lab."

Knuckles and Rouge, seeing no other option at this point, slowly got up and walked to the door. They were guided by four fearsome looking guard bots that each looked armed enough to challenge a room full of prisoners. They led Knuckles and Rouge out into the hall past Eggman, who cackled maniacally as the group made their way down the dungeon corridor.

Knuckles, sensing the uneasiness and fear radiating from Rouge--and perhaps maybe himself as well--instinctively reached out and took her hand in his, letting the warmth of her gentle fingers be his solace. In turn, Rouge immediately grasped Knuckles' hand, and he could feel through it all of the emotions permeating her mind. Rouge turned to look at him, and Knuckles met her with a knowing glance, one that gave his promise that together, they would find a way out of all this; one that would do anything for her--for them.


End file.
